Boston Injury Lawyer Blog
Maxfield and Oberton, the manufacturer of Buckycubes and Buckyballs, says that it is discontinuing the popular magnet desk toy. The decision to stop selling this product comes in the wake of pressure from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which filed a lawsuit contending that the product is a danger to children.
The magnetic pieces are easy to separate from each other and small enough to easily swallow. The pieces can be hard to find once separated from the toy’s larger whole. Blood poisoning and fatalities can also result. Unfortunately, there continue to be other products in the marketplace that include small magnet pieces that pose the same problem as Buckyballs and Buckycubes. If your son or daughter sustained injuries from swallowing a small magnet, you may have grounds for filing a Boston child injury lawsuit.
Already a number of kids have ingested Buckyball magnets in the past few years, with some of them having to undergo extensive hospital stays and multiple surgeries. The magnets are so powerful that if a child were swallow more than one, they can be drawn toward each other in the body, potentially creating holes in the intestine. Doctors have compared a magnet-related ingestion injury injury to a “gunshot wound to the gut,” said Dr. Mark Gilger who is quoted on CNN. Even older kids have ended up swallowing Buckyball magnets, as some of them have pretended that the small pieces were fake tongue piercings.
Although Maxfield and Oberton had said it was going to contest the CPSC’s lawsuit-pointing out that its magnet toy products are marketed to people in the 14 over age group and comes with a warning-it has since changed its mind, saying it is time to begin “focusing on the future.”
Massachusetts Products Liability
Young children, especially, are known for putting small objects in their mouths. Manufacturers know this and it is there job to make products that do not pose a danger to kids, or adults, for that matter. Even if a magnet product is designed for an older age group, if the way it is designed and/or used makes it an injury hazard to kids, it is still a dangerous consumer good.
Magnetic Buckyballs toys discontinued, CNN, November 2, 2012
Buckyballs magnets targeted by federal suit, citing dangers for children, The Washington Post, July 25, 2012
3-year-old swallows 37 Buckyball magnets, survives, CBS News, March 5, 2012
More Blog Posts:
Buckyballs and Buckycube Magnet Maker Sued By CPSC Over Child Injuries, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, July 31, 2012
Child Injury Risks Prompt CPSC Recalls of CareBears Pacifier, Kickboard USA Scooter, PBTeen Bunk Beds, Babylicious Cloth Crib Fringe, Bumbo Baby Seats, Toysmith Bracelets, and My Clothes Children’s Pajamas, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 23, 2012
Massachusetts Trampoline Parks: Are They Safe?, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 12, 2012
