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There's no easy way to tell the story of the death of a child. But Boaz Keysar and Linda Ginzel, who sued two companies they blamed for the death of their 16-month-old son, Daniel, in a defective crib, went to the wall to be able to tell their story. They refused to accept the gag order companies typically demand when they offer to settle lawsuits by consumers over products. A few days ago, Ginzel and Keysar won: On the eve of a trial in a Chicago court, the two companies, Kolcraft and Hasbro, agreed to pay the couple $3 million in damages - and not to stop them from discussing the settlement or what they learned along the way. … Danny had been strangled in a portable crib, the Playskool Travel-Lite, that had been recalled five years before, after three such deaths. Danny was now the fifth child killed in one of the cribs, which were sold from 1990 to 1992. Now there are six - more than one death for every 2,000 of the cribs that were made. There was more disturbing news to come: Kolcraft, which manufactured the Travel-Lite, was just one of five companies that made similar portable cribs, or "play yards," with top rails that could collapse if a locking mechanism wasn't rotated properly or became unlocked during use. All told, 15 children have died in similar incidents, despite recalls of a total of 1.5 million of the products.
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