Consumer advocates proclaim: What were they waiting for? It's about time! It can't bring back the life of the boy who died, or take away the surgeries and pain that dozens of other children suffered from the imperfectly designed toys, but it provides some sense of government justice.
April 14, 2009: read the official CPSC news release:
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Mega Brands America Inc., of Livingston, N.J., formerly Rose Art Industries Inc., has agreed (PDF) to pay a $1.1 million civil penalty. The penalty, which the Commission has provisionally accepted, settles allegations that Mega Brands America and Rose Art failed to provide the government with timely information about dangers to children with Magnetix magnetic building sets, as required under federal law.
In December of 2005, Rose Art filed an “initial report” with CPSC that a 22-month-old child from Washington state had died, due to ingesting multiple magnets that fell out of pieces from a Magnetix set. The report contained no other product or incident information and Rose Art attributed the magnets falling out to unusually abusive play by the toddler’s older siblings. On February 1, 2006, Rose Art submitted a Full Report which again lacked incident and product information. Rose Art stated that it did not retain any complaint or incident records. On March 31, 2006, Rose Art voluntarily recalled nearly 4 million Magnetix sets for users under the age of 6.
After discovering documents which led CPSC staff to believe Rose Art had compiled incident information, a subpoena was issued to the firm (which had been renamed Mega Brands America and was under new ownership and control) to obtain product and incident information. CPSC learned through the subpoena that at the time Rose Art filed its “initial report” in December 2005, it had received over 1,100 consumer complaints that magnets had fallen out of plastic pieces from dozens of different Magnetix models. Additionally, the subpoena revealed that Rose Art had received at least one report of an injury due to magnet ingestion, prior to the toddler’s death in Washington state.
By the time Rose Art agreed to the recall of Magnetix in March 2006, the firm had received more than 1,500 complaints of magnets falling out of plastic pieces in more than 65 different models of Magnetix. In April 2007, Mega Brands America expanded the recall of Magnetix sets for users of any age, after more than 25 children suffered intestinal injuries that required surgery to remove the magnets.
Federal law requires firms to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or violates any consumer product safety rule, or any other rule, regulation, standard, or ban enforced by CPSC.
In agreeing to settle this matter, Mega Brands America and its parent, Mega Brands Inc., of Montreal, Canada contend that 1) Mega Brands Inc. did not know of the Magnetix defect at the time it acquired Rose Art and 2) Rose Art’s prior owners never advised Mega Brands Inc. of the problems of associated with Magnetix.
CPSC strongly encourages consumers to check (PDF) to see if they have any of the recalled building sets and return them to Mega Brands for a free replacement toy - potentially millions of recalled units remain in homes today and accessible to young children.
CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx
Writer David Lazarus of the Los Angeles Times offers his opinion:
Delays in product recalls tempt tragedy
Regulators may know about safety issues, but getting the information out of them is difficult.
Canada's Mega Brands Inc., maker of Mega Blox and other popular playthings, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million last week in connection with a defective toy that caused the death of a toddler in November 2005 and intestinal injuries in 25 others.
Mega Brands didn't actually own the company that made the toy until after the toddler was killed, yet it was legally on the hook for some of the problems. The case highlights the difficulty that companies and consumers face in obtaining accurate and up-to-date safety data from federal regulators. Simply put, it's too hard to find out in a timely manner whether a product poses a danger to users. And, shamefully, it's often not until someone dies before steps are taken to remove that product from store shelves -- a process that can take months.
The Mega Brands settlement centered on Magnetix play sets. The sets had powerful magnets that, if ingested, could tear through a child's intestines. They were originally manufactured by Rose Art Industries Inc., which was acquired by Mega Brands for $315 million in early 2006. While Mega Brands says it didn't know about problems with Magnetix sets while it was vetting Rose Art for purchase in 2005, Rose Art says it disclosed all relevant information. The two companies are duking it out in court over who knew what and when. Regardless of which side is telling the truth, the bottom line is that it should be easier for interested parties to find out whether there are safety issues with a firm's products. It's not clear whether Mega Brands sought to independently check out Rose Art's safety track record by getting in touch with the Consumer Product Safety Commission; neither the company nor the commission kept full records of every contact. But even if the firm had made a point of seeking federal safety data, Mega Brands would have had a tough time prying information from the commission. It turns out that a company or consumer can't just call up and ask the agency to search its database for a specific product or manufacturer. Rather, a request would have to be filed under the Freedom of Information Act and months could pass before a response might be offered. Joe Martyak, the commission's chief of staff, acknowledged that this isn't the most efficient way of providing access to the agency's vast storehouse of safety data. "Our databases aren't set up for doing it any other way," he said.
But still, what if Mega Brands had followed that procedure? According to Martyak, the company would have learned that the commission had received at least two complaints from consumers -- in 2004 and early 2005 -- about magnets becoming dislodged from Magnetix sets. Because magnets are known to pose a safety threat to youngsters if swallowed, this would have been an immediate red flag for Mega Brands. More important, the company would have learned that in May 2005, an Indiana preschool teacher reported that a 5-year-old child had required emergency surgery after swallowing a Magnetix magnet. The Mega Brands-Rose Art merger was still about two months from being finalized when, shortly before Thanksgiving Day in 2005, Kenny Sweet Jr. swallowed a Magnetix magnet at his home in suburban Seattle. The magnet tangled the child's intestines and ultimately killed him, as depicted in a Pulitzer Prize-winning 2007 story in the Chicago Tribune. Would the knowledge of this have been sufficiently troubling to Mega Brands to compel the company to abandon the Rose Art acquisition? Could Mega Brands have exerted pressure on Rose Art to recall the product? We'll never know.
What we do know is that after Kenny's death, the Consumer Product Safety Commission finally lurched into gear and issued a subpoena to Mega Brands, now Rose Art's owner, to produce all information about Magnetix problems. According to the commission, Mega Brands responded with more than 1,100 complaints from customers about magnets falling out of Magnetix sets before the fatal incident. None of those earlier complaints are believed to have involved injuries. The commission called for Mega Brands to voluntarily recall the defective Magnetix sets. However, it took four months for the company and the federal agency to come to terms on the scope of the recall, during which time parents continued buying the toy for their kids. I was one of them, I don't mind saying. So now we have a settlement and a $1.1-million fine. Problem solved?
Blogs Kids in Danger, a safety-related non-profit group:
CPSC announced a settlement today with Mega Brands for withholding information on the hazards associated with Magnetix building toys. The toys were first recalled in 2006 after the death of 22 month old Kenny Sweet in Washington State. Unbeknown to his family, Kenny had swallowed the tiny magnets that had fallen out of the defective toy and hidden in the carpet. As it turns out, by the time the CPSC was notified of Kenny's death, the company (Rose Art) had more than 1000 complaints of magnets falling out and at least one report of serious injury before Kenny's death. By the time of the recall, the firm had over 1,500 reports of product failure and by April 07, when the recall was expanded, almost 30 serious injuries, most involving surgery. Mega Brands announced the acquisition of Rose Art in June 2005, but in settling with CPSC, denies any prior knowledge of problems with Magnetix prior to Kenny's death. A recent Mega Brands company report showed 2008 sales of just under $450 million, down 15% from 2007. Consumers are urged to check their toys to make sure they don't have any of the recalled Magnetix toys or any other products recalled since 2006 because of magnet ingestion hazards. CPSC also has a guide for identifying the recalled Magnetix products.
ConsumerReports.org comments:
We are glad to see the CPSC using its authority to penalize the companies that do not follow its laws. Magnets, if ingested in multiples, can cause serious internal injuries. Toys made with magnets or magnet parts that are small enough for toddlers to ingest do not meet current safety standards. While the fine may seem like a bureaucratic matter, parents should note that potentially millions of recalled magnetic sets remain in homes today and may be accessible to young children.
The Chicago Tribune earlier published investigative reporter Patricia Callahan's series including the tragic timeline of the Magnetix "early warning signals" that were ignored by the manufacturer as well as U.S. regulators, leading to the death of a 22-month old toddler from Washington State.
Meanwhile, in this editorial, the NY Times calls for President Barack Obama to quickly replace the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s acting chairwoman, Nancy Nord, who opposed adding new resources and authority to her group, which the Times calls a "shockingly understaffed agency". The CPSC has at times been slow to impose penalties on corporations that violate US safety laws and regulations.
Who is Nancy Nord?
Read the article by Thomas Francis in the Broward-Palm Beach New Times, a Florida news source, or watch the video:
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