Online published an article stating that Youth Research, Inc. had defrauded federal regulators in the company’s safety testing reports. The article claimed that Youth Research, Inc. had been hired by various lighter manufacturers between 1994 and 2005 to conduct child safety tests on the lighters (Silvestrini, 2010). The Consumer Products Safety Commission noticed inconsistencies on reports submitted by Youth Research, Inc. on testing of lighters’ safety features.
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The reports submitted by the company used the same children with different dates of birth, genders and schools listed in different studies conducted by the company. The article further stated that the company’s president, Karen Forcade, admitted that in at least one test results were skewed so that the lighter would pass safety regulations. The Consumer Products Safety Commission requires that children be unable to ignite a lighter at least eighty-five percent of the time, which was not the case in the study although Youth Research, Inc. reported that the lighter met requirements (Silvestrini, 2010).
Youth Research, Inc. exhibited a myriad of unethical behaviors in their execution of the business research entrusted in them by lighter manufacturers. In a test conducted by Youth Research in May of 1998, it was found that Ms. Forcade had fabricated data for ninety-six of the one hundred required testers. Youth Research altered the data for testers’ dates of birth, genders and schools because of The Consumer Products Safety Commission’s requirements that testers be of different ages, genders and the commission’s limits on the number of testers that can be from schools (Silvestrini, 2010).
Youth Research managed to victimize countless people and companies during their descent into unethical research procedures. The Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that ninety-seven lighters had been approved for distribution because of Youth Research’s testing. The commission stated that while not all ninety-seven lighter models were tested by Youth Research directly, many similar models were quickly approved because of testing previously conducted by Youth Research.
Each lighter that had been approved due to research reports provided by Youth Research had their approval from the Consumer Products Safety Commission pulled and were required to retest their products before they would be allowed in the U. S. market again. At least one lighter company went bankrupt during the process. The loss of sales during retesting and awaiting approval from the commission coupled with the cost to have testing conducted (it is reported that Ms.
Forcade charged fifteen thousand dollars for each test) again is not a small loss for lighter companies (Silvestrini, 2010). Also victimized by Youth Research are the millions of consumers who purchase lighters with safety features. Safety features in lighters were required ‘after research showed children under the age of 5 playing with cigarette lighters had ignited an average of 5,900 residential fires resulting in 170 deaths and 1,150 injuries each year between 1986 and 1988’ according to Tampa Bay Online reporter Silvestrini in her 2010 article.
Considering the need for safety features that are reliable in lighters, altering reports to skew the results of safety tests could have put many people and households in danger. Since Youth Research’s unethical research techniques came to light, Youth Research has gone defunct. Four of Youth Research’s employees, including Ms. Forcade, have been tried, convicted and sentenced. Ms. Forcade was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months home confinement. Ms. Forcade was also ordered to pay a ten thousand dollar fine.
Two contractors who conducted tests for Youth Research were sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a three thousand dollar fine each. One of the contractors was also sentenced to three months home confinement. Another contractor was sentenced to twenty-one months in prison and two years of supervised release for her contributions to the unethical research (2011 Press Release).
The Consumer Products Safety Commission has proven in this instance that their department is highly effective. Workers in the commission were first o notice the inconsistencies in submitted reports, including names that had been misspelled and forged consent forms, and quickly acted to ensure the lighters were retested and met commission standards. The Consumer Products Safety Commission referred their findings to the U. S. Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Protection Litigation and allowed the judicial system bring the law breakers to justice (2011 Press Release). One can only assume that Youth Research’s unethical research practices were born out of laziness.
Youth Research found it was easier to fabricate testers or alter current testers’ information to submit with reports rather than find testers that met the Consumers Products Safety Commission’s standards. Youth Research’s unethical research practices were far-reaching in their victimization of lighter manufacturers and consumers. In this instance, the research conducted was federally regulated and the unethical practices were uncovered by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. The guilty parties were tried, convicted and sentenced for their contributions to the falsified research.
