Lennox DID NOT recall any natural draft furnaces even though over a dozen families were poisoned over the last decade. When I asked CPSC to release, under the Freedom of Information Act, how many suits were filed against Lennox, Lennox forbid the release of this info sighting Trade Secret protection
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Matsushita to recall heaters after carbon monoxide kills two
Japanese electronics maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Wednesday it is recalling about 95,000 heaters sold in Japan following two carbon monoxide poisoning deaths, at a cost of as much as 20 billion yen.
An 11-year-old boy died at his home in Fukushima, on Jan. 5, and a 52-year-old woman died on Nov. 21 in Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, said Matsushita spokesman Akira Kadota.
Last Friday, an 82-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition in Yamagata, northern Japan, Kadota said.
A Matsushita-made heater was being used in all cases, he said.
A total of 152,132 units of 25 models of heaters produced by the Osaka-based company in 1985-92 were sold in Japan, Kadota said. Of those units, 55,499 have been already been repaired for safe use, or recalled.
Under the emergency measure, the company will either collect and buy back the other heaters for 50,000 yen each, or inspect and repair them for free, Kadota said.
Matsushita will spend about 6 billion yen to mobilize about 1,000 employees to visit kerosene gas stations and shops that have sold the heaters to track down users, Kadota said.
Among other expenses, the company will spend 5 billion yen in newspaper and television ads about the recall measure, Kadota said.
Kadota refused to comment on whether the recall measure will affect Matsushita's overall earnings outlook for the current year that ends March 31, 2006. (AP) |
