Ikea has issued another warning about properly fastening their popular MALM furniture to your walls. This warning comes after a tragic accident—the third death caused by an Ikea MALM Dresser falling on a child. Ted McGee from Philadelphia was only 22 months old when his MALM chest of drawers toppled on top of him, taking his life.
A spokesperson from Ikea stated that the furniture retail giant would not be issuing a recall on the MALM range of furniture. The decision not to recall is kind of shocking to me considering much smaller products are recalled daily—Costco completely and swiftly removed from shelves and recalled frozen berries were recently after reports of illness. They even went so far as to phone everyone who purchased the product. Yet, after three reported deaths, no recall on the MALM.
At the same time, Ikea stands by the product and claims it is entirely safe so long as it's properly and safely attached to the wall using the included anchors and assembly manual. They are diligent about warnings and clearly label instruction manuals and tags on product in store.
Here is a quote from the Ikea spokesperson:
'We at Ikea offer our deepest condolences to the McGee family. At Ikea, we believe children are the most important people in the world and the safety of our products is our highest priority.
'Upon being informed of this incident Ikea US immediately reported it to the authorities and an investigation is taking place. Ikea US has been advised that the product was not attached to the wall, which is an integral part of the products' assembly instructions.
'Ikea has also been working to raise awareness of the importance of securing furniture to the wall. Besides providing tip-over restraints with all storage furniture where wall attachment is required, Ikea runs the campaign 'Secure It!'.
This type of tragic accident can and does happen with any dresser or piece of furniture, it doesn't even have to be something so large and heavy—so please parents, spend a few dollars and get a kit for any furniture to be fastened to the wall.
When my son was about a year old, he climbed up the TV stand and it fell down. Luckily, he was only left with a split lip but it could have been so much worse. Since then, everything in my home is fastened if it could potentially fall over.
Back in 2015, Ikea issued a warning for about 27 million units after two other young children were killed, calling for customers to return their MALM dressers and offering a free kit to anchor the dresser to a wall. The intention being that this would prevent any further harm to our precious little ones.
Ted's family and lawyers are calling to have a recall issued on the product.
So what do you think—recall or not?
All of the furniture comes with wall anchor kits... If you have a child who is a climber - please use them! Any dresser or bookcase can topple over if not secured to a wall and climbed on... Should all of these be banned? No... A terrible tragedy for the family - but nor a reason to ban the furniture...
It even says in the instructions to use the anchor kits.
Tough spot. IKEA does their due diligence in ensuring the safety items are sent home with the consumers to utilize as part of the instructions. IKEA has no control or way of monitoring whether or not customers use those pieces. IKEA also isn't the only furniture company to have items fall over in kids, either. That being said should we ban furniture period? Because realistically everything can fall over and tip if not bolted to the wall. That's like saying, recall hot tubs because kids can fall in. Or recall swimming pools because kids can drown. I don't necessarily feel you can pin point the problem on the dresser itself. It's sad for sure and this is just my opinion on it.
No no recall. People just have to anchor their furniture and baby proof their homes and tragedy won't happen
You're surprised they didn't recall the dresser? IKEA includes fastening kits with their furniture. There are plenty of warnings to fasten the furniture to the wall. If it toppled over then it obviously was not fastened to the wall. This can happen with any piece of furniture not fastened to the wall and it's a bit ridiculous to ban everything when there is a VERY simple solution with VERY clear warnings on all of Ikea's furniture with a topple risk.
I feel terrible but they have anchors and instructions for a reason. Use them
This is a very unfortunate incident. However, IKEA has done their due diligence by providing both the anchors and the instructions on how to properly fasten these units along with a caution of the risks by not using them. At some point there needs to be some accountability from the end user should they choose not to take proper precautions.
Yup because people don't read the instructions. It's always the companies fault not the lazy person. No one wants to be held accountable so maybe all things should be recalled. Smh.....
ANY dresser on a kids room should be anchored. Just because this is a popular dresser doesn't mean it's should be recalled. They come with an anchor kit! We have one. We anchored it.
NO IKEA has done nothing wrong. I don't think they should have to recall things because people are.lazy idiots.
No they shouldn't recall these dressers. I had them for my boys and they were fastened to the wall AS INSTRUCTED.
It is sad that parents don't use their heads and their children suffer for it
It's a very unfortunate outcome, and my heart goes out to the family. That being said, I do not think a recall is in order. Especially if the product comes with anchors as others have mentioned. I'm not sure how much more any company could do, especially if they're providing all the necessary items to increase the safety and the consumer chose not to use it.
I have had these dressers in my girls rooms for several years with no problem. They come with anchors to attach to wall with a caution.... I feel for the families that have had this loss but i don't think its Ikeas fault
Parents fault not IKEA! Will they blame the Brick if this happens with one if their products? Put the blame where the blame belongs....parents.
It's incredibly sad that these deaths have happened, but I don't really think it has much to do with the product itself. Any large piece of furniture could have the same result, these just happen to be a very popular mass produced item so it's more noticeable.
How is this IKEA's fault if they didn't follow safety instructions? Did we recall McDonald's coffee after tragic burns? No, warning labels were added to cups. The parents have to take the responsibility of reading and following instructions carefully, and had this accident happened then, IKEA would be liable. In this sad case, it was because of installation errors by the purchasers (the parents). My heart goes out to them but placing blame will not make them feel better.
Anchors along with the knowledge that you are always place heavier items in the bottom drawer and only open 1 drawer at a time...
Terrible tragedy, but always someone else's fault! IKEA dresser, any dresser, bookcase etc... Take necessary precautions. It's like blaming your car cause you were speeding and got in an accident. The human race will be extinct shortly if common sense doesn't make a reappearance soon as well as plan old responsibility for your own actions or lack thereof. Again... There is no blame the family lost a precious baby, but you can't blame a retailer, that even goes above and beyond offering the anchors to avoid this.
i have an idea....dont let your kids climb the furniture!
I have these dressers, they all came with warnings and a kit to attach to the wall. It's sad this happened but no need to recall. Any dresser can tip over and cause death, other then warning and kits what else can they do.