U.S. Sues Maker of Kids Products : Consumers: Cosco Inc. says recalled toddler beds and guardrails were ‘unquestionably safe.’

In a rare move, the government sued a maker of juvenile products Monday over its alleged failure to report dozens of consumer complaints about the safety of its toddler beds and guardrails, both of which have been recalled.

The company, Cosco Inc. of Columbus, Ind., said the products were “unquestionably safe” and that it would await vindication in court.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Justice Department filed two lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis seeking a $2.5-million civil penalty, the maximum amount allowed under the Consumer Product Safety Act.

The law requires companies to immediately report defects in their products that could pose a substantial risk of injury to the public.

The commission said Cosco knew of at least 25 instances of young children becoming stuck in openings in the frames of the model T22 and T23 beds, but didn’t report them until after a toddler in New York state was strangled in December 1991 while trying to climb out of bed feet first through the footboard. Some of the complaints dated to February 1991, the commission said.

Cosco made a full report on the hazards in March 1992, three months after the commission requested it.

About 110,000 of the red or white tubular steel beds, some with guardrails, were sold nationwide from December 1990 through December 1991 as “transition beds” for children ages 2 to 4.

Cosco is also accused of failing to notify the agency of similar incidents involving guardrails sold with the beds and separately as accessories. A companion complaint alleges that Cosco received dozens of complaints about the guardrails in 1992 and ‘93--even as it worked with the safety commission to recall the beds--but failed to report them until the commission asked.

The beds were recalled in April 1992, the guardrails in June 1994.

“It is inexcusable and unacceptable for companies not to report,” said Ann Brown, commission chairwoman.

The lawsuits are the first filed since Brown took over the agency in March 1994. “When we don’t know the magnitude of a problem, we can’t do the job that we need to do,” she said.

Cosco said in a statement that it regretted the commission action because the beds have been redesigned. It said the 15-month-old who died was sleeping in a bed that had been wrongly converted into a crib, and that Cosco had warned parents that the beds were for use only by toddlers older than 2.

Cosco did not address the allegation that it hid consumer complaints.

“The products in question were unquestionably safe,” the statement said. “These products have been used millions of times, with the only known incident [being] a case of clear and flagrant product alteration and misuse.”

But the commission said Cosco did not explain the approximate age range on its packaging and should have known the beds would be used by children younger than 24 months, even if it hadn’t been warned of the problem.