Is Apple Hiding Ipod Injuries?

According to an investigative report by a television station, there have been a number of accidents involving Apple's iPod MP3 players, and the company has been doing a good job of keeping those injuries under wraps.

According to the investigation by KIRO 7, there have been several incidents involving these MP3 players busting into flames, causing injuries to people and damage to property. KIRO 7 investigators were able to obtain documents from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It wasn't easy getting access to the documents because lawyers for Apple kept filing exemptions denying investigators access. Finally, the CPSC released more than 800 pages of documents that show how iPods have burst into flames, emitted smoke and burnt their owners on several occasions.

The investigation was set off after KIRO 7 found several instances where the iPod caused burn injuries to people or burst into flames. In one case, a woman received burn injuries from an iPod that was fixed to her shirt. When the injured victim, Jamie Balderas, called Apple to enquire if such burns are common, company representatives told her that her injuries were an isolated case. When Balderas enquired if she could obtain documentation about how many other times such injuries had been reported from the use of iPod, representatives told her that she could not access that information.

Investigators found several complaints about the iPods overheating. Injured customers posted photographs of burned and charred iPods on the internet. In Japan, injuries from iPods were serious enough and frequent enough in number for the government to issue a warning citing several accidents in which iPod Nanos overheated and caused injuries to users.

KIRO 7 investigators then filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Consumer Product Safety Commission in December asking to see complaints related to Apple iPod injuries. It took 7 months for investigators to finally obtain those documents which ran into 800 pages of information. The documents reported 15 fire and burn injuries blamed on iPods.

The injuries and accidents detailed in the documents are numerous:

One resident of Portland, Oregon suffered burn injuries on her hand when she lifted her iPod.

In Pennsylvania in 2005, an overheated iPod caused some property damage and injuries to a boy.

In 2006, a 17-year-old girl in Illinois found her iPod Nano "smoking and sparking."

A man from Staten Island sustained a minor shock and redness on his hand, when he pulled his iPod Shuffle from the port after he noticed sparks.

Also in 2006, an iPod of a passenger on a ship, caught fire.

In 2006, an iPod Nano in a New York home began to emit smoke strongly enough to send fire alarms off. The iPod caught fire and fell on a chair, causing damage to the chair.

In 2007 in Atlanta, an iPod Nano burst into flames while in his pocket.

In 2008, an iPod in a Michigan home smoked and melted in the middle of the night, setting the fire alarms off.

The company needs to find out what exactly happened, and where the problem lies. If necessary, the company must consider issuing a recall.