Posted on 03/31/2006 5:34:16 PM PST by Momaw Nadon
Two more families filed civil lawsuits Wednesday against the maker of a popular toy that doctors say caused the death of a 22-month-old Redmond boy.
The lawsuits allege that Magnetix, the construction toy blamed for the death of Redmond toddler Kenny Sweet, caused a 4-year-old Oak Harbor boy and a 3-year-old boy in Tacoma to be hospitalized.
Both boys -- Kyle Booke of Oak Harbor and Marcell McNeil of Tacoma -- survived serious bowel obstructions caused by magnets that fell out of their Magnetix building pieces, but only after undergoing emergency surgery to remove the magnets and repair their intestines, the lawsuits allege.
Kenny Sweet wasn't so lucky. He died Nov. 24, just hours after his parents rushed him to a hospital emergency room with a severe stomach ache and flu-like symptoms.
His parents, Kenneth and Penny Sweet, sued the toy maker earlier this month. Two days later, with a second young victim in the hospital, Children's Hospital in Seattle and the King County medical examiner released a public warning: Don't let young children play with toys like Magnetix.
The two recent lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle and Tacoma. Named in all three suits are the maker of Magnetix, Rose Art Industries of Livingston, N.J., and its parent company, Mega Bloks of Montreal.
``With the filing of these two new cases, it should be clear that Kenny's death was not an isolated incident,'' said Sim Osborn, attorney for all three families. ``We hope that Mega Bloks will finally acknowledge the true extent of the danger caused by Magnetix, and will change the way it manufactures this toy in order to prevent more injuries and deaths.''
In each of the three cases described in lawsuits, the children swallowed multiple aspirin-sized magnets that had fallen out of parts of their Magnetix set. Magnetix is a building toy that includes numerous plastic pieces that can be joined together by embedded magnets.
According to TD Monthly, a toy-industry trade magazine, Magnetix is among the top 10 most-wanted building sets and a top seller on Web sites such as Amazon.com.
The powerful magnets joined together inside the intestine of each of the boys, causing a bowel obstruction. The knotted intestine eventually developed holes and bacteria seeped out, contaminating their blood stream, doctors have explained.
Rose Art Industries referred media inquiries to Mega Bloks. No one from Mega Bloks could be reached for comment Wednesday.
All three lawsuits allege the Magnetix design and assembly are defective and the company should have warned parents about the hazards of swallowing the magnets. While the toy's packaging warns of choking hazard, it makes no mention of other complications from swallowing magnets.
Both families are asking that the company be stopped from selling Magnetix in its current form. The suits also seek damages for medical expenses and permanent, severe injuries.
I feel sorry for the family's loss but you can't legislate everything. The toy ain't too bad and it's a fluke death.
One of these days companies are going to start suing back for parental stupidity.
Spoke with a CMA today who said her daughter fell ill after ingesting a magnetix "sphere". She was told by poison control that the metal pieces contain lead.
Is this toy labelled for kids so young?
Those magnet building toys are a lot of fun. I've bought them for nieces and nephews and they really liked them.
They were still on the shelf at WalMart this afternoon, but if you want some GET THEM NOW, because they will be off the market real soon now.
Ages 3+
It seems Tort Reform needs to include the "dumb sh*t" rule.
3+?
That's crazy. Kids that young are still in the "mouthing" phase.
Magnetix are COOL toys. My boys play with them all the time (have a whole pile of them on the coffee table right now...). They DO lose the little magnets in the plastic pieces (got a pile of them too) but my boys are old enough to know not to eat them. Would definately know NOT to get them for any kid under 5 years old, just looking at the small parts should make any half brain-dead parent realize this!
Mama
I thought on the 1st thread that they were designed for 10 and up and it was the toddlers brother's toy.
I'm sorry for the families' pain, but kids will swallow ANYTHING. There's no substitute for supervision. The "village" is not going to make sure that your toddler only swallows safe stuff - that's a parent's job.
I hate to think of all the items that made their ways down my gullet.
Inculding Scottie Dog magnets.
D'oh!
That's "including".
Darn that Pinot Grigio!
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