Product related deaths

PFD Category
Reports: 131 Areas: 54 Earliest: Oct 2013 Latest: 5 Aug 2025

77% response rate (above 62% average). 37% of classified responses show concrete action taken. Reports rose 150% from 6 (2023) to 15 (2024).

Response Status
Responded 101 Historic 28
AI Classification
Action Taken 37%
Action Planned 36%
Noted 17%
Disputed 11%
Based on 84 classified responses
Reports by Quarter
PFD Reports
131 results
Macy Fletcher
Historic (No Identified Response)
2019-0227 27 Jun 2019 Manchester (North)
Communities and Local Government Ministry of Housing
Concerns summary A critical lack of national oversight and guidance for private landlords on updated blind cord safety regulations means many are unaware of risks from older blinds, leading to child strangulation deaths.
Ronald Clark
Partially Responded
2019-0151 8 Apr 2019 Portsmouth and South East Hampshire
Medicines and Healthcare products Regul… NHS Improvement
Concerns summary Stents supplied in identical packaging with only small labels pose a risk of using incorrect sizes during medical procedures.
Bram Radcliffe
Historic (No Identified Response)
2019-0110 22 Mar 2019 West Yorjshire (West)
Communities and Local Government Ministry of Housing Stone Federation of GB
Concerns summary Dangerous, substandard fireplace surround installations are unregulated as they are not deemed "building work." There is no British Standard for fixing these components, only for their manufacture, creating a safety gap.
Terence Penney
Historic (No Identified Response)
2019-0034 28 Jan 2019 Lincolnshire
LEC Refrigeration Office for Product Safety and Standards
Concerns summary A fatal fire resulted from a vapour leak in a relatively new domestic fridge, highlighting a potential widespread safety risk with similar units in circulation.
Kenneth Bardsley
Historic (No Identified Response)
2018-0407 27 Dec 2018 Manchester (South)
Health and Safety Executive Care Quality Commission Lancs & Cumbria Lifts UK Ltd +1 more
Concerns summary Lack of minimum qualifications for lift engineers, a systemic failure to act on regulatory examination findings, and absent care home and lift company protocols for managing maintenance risks contributed to safety concerns.
Savannah-Rose Owen
All Responded
2018-0367 22 Nov 2018 Manchester (South)
Department of Health and Social Care
Concerns summary Multi-purpose nursing pillows lack specific safety regulations and have inconsistent, often misleading, warning labels that are easily lost, promoting unsafe sleep practices for infants.
Elizabeth Griffin
Partially Responded
2018-0072 7 Mar 2018 London Inner (West)
Whirlpool UK Office for Product Safety and Standards Chartered Trading Standards Institute +1 more
Concerns summary No specific concerns for future deaths were detailed in the provided text.
Bernard Hender
All Responded
2017-0311 31 Oct 2017 North Wales (East & Central)
Whirlpool (UK) Appliances
Concerns summary Whirlpool's risk assessments for appliance fires were inadequate, with a dismissive approach to field data like reported fires. This prevents timely learning and proactive measures to enhance product safety and save lives.
Douglas McTavish
All Responded
2017-0311-wp25923 31 Oct 2017 North Wales (East & Central)
Whirlpool (UK) Appliances
Christina Fletcher
Historic (No Identified Response)
2017-0295 13 Oct 2017 Manchester (North)
General Pharmaceutical Council
Concerns summary A lack of clear regulatory guidance on 'red flag' systems for pharmacies to identify patients with similar details and inconsistent chain of custody protocols for controlled drugs pose risks.
Brian Betterton
All Responded
2017-0224 11 Sep 2017 Bedfordshire and Luton
Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy
Concerns summary Product recalls for items like fuse boxes are ineffective because end-users are often untraceable, as professional purchasers are not required to log installation locations or end-user details.
Isabella Pritchard
All Responded
2017-0261 16 Aug 2017 Berkshire
Department of Business Department of Communities and Local Gov… Energy and Industrial Strategy
Concerns summary The unregulated fireplace industry lacks safety standards, leading to inherently dangerous designs and vague installation instructions. Absence of building control for installation significantly increases the risk of serious incidents.
Linda Baranowski
Partially Responded
2017-0341 22 Jul 2017 Hertfordshire
Food Standard Agency Hertfordshire Trading Standards National Food Crime Unit
Concerns summary Widely available diet supplements and a hot slimming cream contributed to a fatal inflammatory response, raising concerns about the sale of products with unknown effects.
John Wilson
Historic (No Identified Response)
2017-0445 12 Jul 2017 Manchester (South)
Beko Plc
Concerns summary The product recall process was inadequate, relying on unrecorded standard mail that failed to inform the deceased, and lacked further robust efforts like registered post or follow-up visits, despite known increasing fire risk with product age.
Aaron McCaffrey
Historic (No Identified Response)
2017-0195 16 Jun 2017 Manchester (South)
Medicines and Healthcare products Regul…
Concerns summary The lack of purchase limits for loperamide medication at retail stores enables bulk buying, increasing the risk of addiction and overdose.
Maurice Macdonnell
All Responded
2017-0188 14 Jun 2017 London Inner (South)
Medicines and Healthcare products Regul…
Concerns summary A potential conflict of interest arose when a doctor, also a research investigator, administered a second drug dose despite adverse effects, raising concerns about patient safety safeguards in clinical trials.
Howard Jeffers
All Responded
2017-0115 15 May 2017 London (North)
Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Subs… Pharmaceutical Chemistry University of Hertfordshire
Concerns summary The inability to accurately analyze and detect novel psychoactive substances (NPS) through toxicological testing poses an ongoing risk of future deaths.
Richard Bull
Historic (No Identified Response)
2017-0154 10 May 2017 London (West)
Apple
Concerns summary There is insufficient public perception of the risk associated with phone chargers in contact with water, requiring urgent and prominent safety warnings.
Grace Roseman
All Responded
2016-0455 19 Dec 2016 West Sussex
Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy
Concerns summary Crib manufacturer failed to fully address the risk of death from an un-modified crib design, leaving a large number of potentially unsafe products in circulation with unaware customers.
Roy Lawton
All Responded
2016-0441 9 Dec 2016 Staffordshire (South)
Marks and Spencer
Concerns summary The deceased's dressing gown was highly inflammable regardless of fabric, raising concerns about product safety, the need for flammability warnings, or manufacturing improvements in clothing.
Benjamin Wylie
Partially Responded
2016-0407 14 Nov 2016 Berkshire
Health and Safety Executive Federation of Piling Specialists Soilmec Limited
Concerns summary Design flaws in piling rig grease nipples, inadequate warnings, insufficient training, and manual deficiencies pose significant operator safety risks.
Zane Gbangbola
Historic (No Identified Response)
2016-0328 13 Sep 2016 Surrey
HAE Ltd Department for Work and Pensions Health and Safety Executive
Concerns summary Inadequate and misleading safety guidance for internal combustion engine equipment used in confined spaces, coupled with the misleading use of the HSE logo, increases the risk of harm.
Samantha Hopkins
All Responded
2016-0316 6 Sep 2016 Portsmouth and South East Hampshire
South Central Ambulance Service Warwick Medical School
Concerns summary Critical trial exclusions, such as for pregnant women, were overlooked due to insufficient prominence on drug packet warnings and lack of guidance for highlighting these exclusions.
Rosemarie Dees
Historic (No Identified Response)
2016-0259 19 Jul 2016 London Inner (South)
Resuscitation Council (UK)
Concerns summary An undetected foreign body airway obstruction could inhibit the use of a supraglottic airway, suggesting laryngoscopy should be a prerequisite for SGA insertion.
Daniel Paylor
Historic (No Identified Response)
2016-0353 1 Jul 2016 Wiltshire and Swindon
Medicine and Health Care Products Regul…
Concerns summary Ambulance services exhibit inadequate regulatory control, safeguards, and auditing for drugs compared to hospitals, lacking sufficient peer supervision and requiring only single-person authority for drug access.