Magnetix Lawsuits Filed For Injuries When Children Swallowed Magnet Toy

MEGA Brands of America faces at least two personal injury lawsuits after children suffered severe intestinal injuries from swallowing magnets from the Magnetix brand toy line. 

The complaints were filed in California Superior Court, in Orange County, by the law firm of Alonso Krangle LLP, on behalf of one child from Nevada and another from Washington.

According to allegations raised in the Magnetix lawsuits, the children suffered life-threatening injuries after they swallowed small, high-powered magnets that came loose from the toys and building sets.

A Magnetix recall was issued in March 2006, and then again in April of 2007, after there were reports of at least 1,500 incidents where the magnets separated from the building pieces.

According to information provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) at the time of the recall, swallowing the small magnets from the toys resulted in at least one death, one aspiration and 27 intestinal injuries, which resulted in emergency surgery in all but one of the cases.

Warnings have been added to the products indicating that if the magnets are ingested or inhaled, attraction of magnets in the body could pose a risk of serious injury that requires immediate medical care.

Although the problems with the Magnetix toys were originally thought to primarily pose a risk for children under the age of six, resulting in recommendations that the product not be used by children under that age, the U.S. CPSC has received a number of reports of injuries involving children between 6 and 10 years old.

Magnetix toy sets contained up to 250 plastic pieces and steel balls measuring a half inch in diameter. MEGA Brands continues to offer a replacement program for all parents who have purchased a Magnetix product, even though the company has continued to release what it says are improved versions that are supposedly safer.

The Magnetix line has been re-designed to make it more difficult for children to swallow components.