Last Thursday, United Pet Group announced the voluntary recall of its Marineland Stealth and Stealth Pro aquarium heaters. In total, approximately 1.2 million units are being recalled because of defects that can cause overheating, which can lead to a fire risk or cause the aquariums to shatter. As a Plantation Products Liability Attorney, what really caught my attention were the multiple reports of damage that people were experiencing. As of the announcement of the recall, there had been 38 reports of fires causing property damage as well as 45 reports of the aquarium glass breaking because of the overheating defect.
Moreover, according to the CPSC United Pet Group Aquarium Heater Recall Release, one person even reported suffering an eye injury from the heater unexpectedly breaking while he was holding it. From a Plantation Personal Injury Attorney’s perspective, reports like that are quite scary and concerning because of the potential for other owners to unexpectedly suffer injuries. If others are not aware of the recall, they could incur injuries because of a fire or because of the glass breaking, especially since they wouldn’t be expecting it.
Additionally, 1.2 million is a very large number, which means that a lot of people are going to be affected by this recall. It also means that 1.2 million people are exposed to a potentially serious product defect and they might not even know it at this point. As a Plantation Personal Injury Lawyer, I hope the news of this recall spreads to those people as quickly as possible so that as many potential injuries as possible can be avoided.
If you own one of the Marineland aquarium heaters, it is advisable to check your model number with the numbers listed in the CPSC United Pet Group Aquarium Heater Recall Report that is linked above. Further, it is very important to stop using the aquarium heater immediately and to follow the recall instructions detailed in the CPSC report.
