Magnetix Manufactured Fined $1.1 Million by US Product Safety Commission
Earlier this month the manufacturer of a magnetic toy set called “Magnetix,” agreed to pay $1.1 million in civil penalties to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for failing to provide the government timely information about the dangers that the product posed to children as required by federal law.
Mega Brands America Inc., formerly Rose Art Industries Inc., manufactured the Magnetix building sets which contained plastic components with small powerful embedded magnets that allowed the parts to be joined together. In March of 2006, Rose Art voluntarily recalled nearly 4 million of the Magentix sets following over 1,500 complaints of the magnets falling out in more than 65 different models of the toys. Numerous children were seriously injured when they ingested the magnets. Once ingested, the magnets would cause intestinal blockage, bowel perforation and secondary infections. Surgical removal and repair of intestinal damage was being reported to Rose Art. Rose Art reported the occurrence of a child’s death in Washington to the CPSC, but failed to reveal the other serious injury complaints that were coming in daily.
Our office has successfully handled several of these cases since 2006. If you have these toys in your household, or see them in use at day care centers or other play facilities, please stop their use immediately. If your child has been injured by the toy, we would be happy to discuss the matter with you to see if we can help. There is no charge for this consultation.