Toy company fined $400,000
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced that Battat Inc. of Plattsburgh, N.Y., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $400,000 for knowingly failing to report the defect and hazard associated with Magnabild Magnetic Building Sets.
The Magnabild was a magnetic building set labeled for ages 3 and up. Small magnets inside the building pieces fell out, and if found by young children, could be swallowed or aspirated. If more than one magnet were swallowed, the magnets would attract to each other, connect, and cause intestinal perforations or blockages, which can be fatal.
CPSC staff alleged that Battat received its first report of magnets coming loose from the Magnabild in October 2005. CPSC staff contacted Battat in July 2007. When the firm reported to CPSC on Oct. 12, 2007, Battat had received 16 reports of magnets coming out of the Magnabild and two reports of children ingesting the non-magnetized steel balls.
CPSC staff alleges that Battat was aware of the dangers posed to children by the ingestion of magnets by this time, in part because of the March 2006 recall of the Rose Art Magnetix Building Set, which involved one death, four serious injuries, and 34 incidents involving small magnets.
Battat and CPSC announced a voluntary recall of 125,000 Magnabilds on Jan. 23, 2008. The recall was expanded to include 7,000 more Magnabilds on March 13, 2008. Magnabilds were sold nationwide from August 2004 to February 2008 for between $20 and $40.
Although there were no injuries associated with magnets falling out of the Magnabild, federal law requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect.
