Launched last month, the federal government's new publicly searchable database for dangerous products, www.saferproducts.gov, has already run into political turbulence.
The database lists manufacturer recalls of defective products, but its real innovation is providing public access to citizen reports of injuries, fires, explosions, shocks or other dangerous malfunctions.
Manufacturers are given 10 days to respond to reports before the Consumer Product Safety Commission puts complaints on the website. Companies have raised enough of a stink about potential false reports besmirching their products that a Republican-sponsored bill to defund the $3 million database passed the House in February, the Washington Post reported last week.
Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, also tried in vain to include the measure as a policy rider in the budget bill, the Post reported. He is vowing to continue his effort to restrict the database.
The database gives new insight into how companies respond to claims that their products are dangerous.
"My daughter's DaVinci Roxanne crib by Million Dollar Baby broke while she was in it," a March 22 report said. "The drop side came loose on one side, and her arm got caught in it."
The manufacturer's April 8 response: All drop-side cribs were recalled in 2010, and a repair kit was sent to the consumer.
Another consumer who bought a bike from Target in Florida reported: "The pedal came out of its socket, and the jagged threading protruding out of the bicycle tore into her leg [calf]. This resulted in a laceration large enough to require seven stitches ..."
