High-powered magnets are a safety risk to children – toddler through teen. An increasing number of incidents reported to CPSC indicate that children are swallowing these magnets and the injuries are serious.
Our law firm has won money for children who ingested magnetic toys.
“When swallowed, these magnets attract to each in the stomach or intestines, causing internal damage that in many cases can only be repaired with surgery. This is extremely serious and can result in death.” You can contact a lawyer for a FREE consultation here regarding a lawsuit against a manufacturer, importer, distributor and possibly a retailer.
Although this problem has been known for years, manufacturers, distributors and retailers continued to sell them. Finally, 6 retailers are recalling Buckyballs and Buckycubes, high-powered magnet sets. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the recall and stated that “these products contain defects in the design, warnings and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury and death to children and teenagers.”
The Buckyballs and Buckycubes are Imported by Maxfield & Oberton LLC, of New York, N.Y. The 6 retailers recalling these products are the following:
- Barnes & Noble
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Brookstone
- Hallmark
- Marbles the Brain Store
- ThinkGeek.
Buckyballs and Buckycubes consist of sets of numerous, small, high-powered magnets. These sets vary in the number of magnets included and come in a variety of colors. Individual magnets in the set are about 5 millimeters in diameter. Individual magnets in Buckyballs are spherical and individual magnets in Buckycubes are cube-shaped.
About three million sets of Buckyballs and Buckycubes have been sold in U.S. retail stores nationwide and online since 2010 for between $5 and $100. CPSC has received 54 reports of children and teens ingesting this product, with 53 of these requiring medical interventions.
These retailers have agreed to participate because Maxfield & Oberton has refused to participate in the recall of all Buckyballs and Buckycubes. Although children continue to be injured, the CPSC does not have the authority to make the company recall the products. We urge all retailers to follow the lead of these 6 and stop selling these products.