Magnetic toys to carry new warning labels
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A KOMO 4 Problem Solver investigation first revealed the dangers of loose and powerful magnets in toys, and our reports prompted a nationwide toy recall. The findings of that investigation, along with the tragic death of a Redmond toddler is helping to change the entire toy industry.
Kenny Sweet died in November of 2005 after he swallowed powerful magnets that came loose from a Magnetix construction set.
Following his death, Kenny's mom sent us a frantic e-mail. Penny Sweet wanted to warn every parent that magnets from a toy killed her son. Now every parent who buys any toy with tiny, super-powerful magnets will get the warning she never got.
"I feel really good about helping the other families," Sweet said in an interview last Fall.
It began Thanksgiving Day 2005. Penny rushed 20-month-old Kenny to the hospital with flu-like symptoms. Within minutes, Kenny went into cardiopulmonary arrest and died before doctors could even make a diagnosis.
"All the prayers wouldn't bring him back," said Sweet a month after her son died.
An autopsy revealed Kenny swallowed nine pill-sized magnets. They came from a Magnetix construction set, a wildly popular toy that uses magnets to connect plastic building blocks. The toy belonged to Kenny's older brothers. It's not clear how, but the magnets had fallen out.
I talked to the Sweets last September.
"It's been the hardest year of my life," said Kenny's father, Ken Sweet. Penny's e-mail triggered a Problem Solvers investigation.
Within months, I found three other children - two from Washington and one from California - who also swallowed Magnetix magnets. They all required emergency surgery.
"He was hours from dying," said the father of four-year-old Kyle Booke. His son swallowed Magnetix magnets he got for Christmas from his grandmother.
The federal Consumer Products Safety Commission says following our investigation, they got complaints across the country - 65 so far.
Our investigation pushed the feds and Montreal-based toymaker MegaBrands to recall nearly four million Magnetix sets that had been sold nationwide.
But the toymaker pointed a finger at parents, blaming them for alleged "inadequate supervision."
"You try to make the best product you can, try to have good quality in place and sometimes things happen," said MegaBrands attorney, Rick Locker.
Finally last September, MegaBrands agreed to talk.
"At that time there was not a lot of significant data out there that indicated magnets from toys were associated with this type of death or illness," said Locker.
But toy industry leaders, consumer advocates and the government had heard enough. They make up the American Society for Testing Materials.
"We have to stop other children from being injured by this product," said Nancy Cowles, a toy-safety advocate with Kids in Danger. She's also a member of the American Society for Testing Materials Sub-Committee on Toy Safety.
The Society writes the country's toy standards. It has just created the first warning label for all toys with small, powerful magnets sold to kids eight and under.
"We were the first one to bring it to the meeting after we heard probably your report," said Cowles.
The new warning label reads: Warning: swallowed magnets can stick together, across intestines causing serious infections and death.
In Kenny's case, the magnets were so strong, they pinched his intestines and twisted his bowel. They wore a hole thru Kenny's intestinal wall, leaking deadly bacteria into his blood stream.
"Whatever is developed as the ASTM process, this company MegaBrands will follow," said MegaBrand's Locker.
"Parents are gonna know about this danger now, I think that's really important," said Cowles.
"I'm a steward of children of my own, and any child that I know," said Penny Sweet.
"I think my wife has been the superstar who brought this issue to the forefront - not just in America but around the world," said Ken Sweet.
It is a bittersweet victory, but Kenny's death now helps warn every parent everywhere.
MegaBrands isn't the only company that had problems. Mattel also recalled four million Mattel Polly Pocket dolls worldwide with magnets fell out easily like those in Magnetix toys, according to federal authorities. The new warning labels for toys with magnets are in production and should hit the market in a few months.
Kenny Sweet died in November of 2005 after he swallowed powerful magnets that came loose from a Magnetix construction set.
Following his death, Kenny's mom sent us a frantic e-mail. Penny Sweet wanted to warn every parent that magnets from a toy killed her son. Now every parent who buys any toy with tiny, super-powerful magnets will get the warning she never got.
"I feel really good about helping the other families," Sweet said in an interview last Fall.
It began Thanksgiving Day 2005. Penny rushed 20-month-old Kenny to the hospital with flu-like symptoms. Within minutes, Kenny went into cardiopulmonary arrest and died before doctors could even make a diagnosis.
"All the prayers wouldn't bring him back," said Sweet a month after her son died.
An autopsy revealed Kenny swallowed nine pill-sized magnets. They came from a Magnetix construction set, a wildly popular toy that uses magnets to connect plastic building blocks. The toy belonged to Kenny's older brothers. It's not clear how, but the magnets had fallen out.
I talked to the Sweets last September.
"It's been the hardest year of my life," said Kenny's father, Ken Sweet. Penny's e-mail triggered a Problem Solvers investigation.
Within months, I found three other children - two from Washington and one from California - who also swallowed Magnetix magnets. They all required emergency surgery.
"He was hours from dying," said the father of four-year-old Kyle Booke. His son swallowed Magnetix magnets he got for Christmas from his grandmother.
The federal Consumer Products Safety Commission says following our investigation, they got complaints across the country - 65 so far.
Our investigation pushed the feds and Montreal-based toymaker MegaBrands to recall nearly four million Magnetix sets that had been sold nationwide.
But the toymaker pointed a finger at parents, blaming them for alleged "inadequate supervision."
"You try to make the best product you can, try to have good quality in place and sometimes things happen," said MegaBrands attorney, Rick Locker.
Finally last September, MegaBrands agreed to talk.
"At that time there was not a lot of significant data out there that indicated magnets from toys were associated with this type of death or illness," said Locker.
But toy industry leaders, consumer advocates and the government had heard enough. They make up the American Society for Testing Materials.
"We have to stop other children from being injured by this product," said Nancy Cowles, a toy-safety advocate with Kids in Danger. She's also a member of the American Society for Testing Materials Sub-Committee on Toy Safety.
The Society writes the country's toy standards. It has just created the first warning label for all toys with small, powerful magnets sold to kids eight and under.
"We were the first one to bring it to the meeting after we heard probably your report," said Cowles.
The new warning label reads: Warning: swallowed magnets can stick together, across intestines causing serious infections and death.
In Kenny's case, the magnets were so strong, they pinched his intestines and twisted his bowel. They wore a hole thru Kenny's intestinal wall, leaking deadly bacteria into his blood stream.
"Whatever is developed as the ASTM process, this company MegaBrands will follow," said MegaBrand's Locker.
"Parents are gonna know about this danger now, I think that's really important," said Cowles.
"I'm a steward of children of my own, and any child that I know," said Penny Sweet.
"I think my wife has been the superstar who brought this issue to the forefront - not just in America but around the world," said Ken Sweet.
It is a bittersweet victory, but Kenny's death now helps warn every parent everywhere.
MegaBrands isn't the only company that had problems. Mattel also recalled four million Mattel Polly Pocket dolls worldwide with magnets fell out easily like those in Magnetix toys, according to federal authorities. The new warning labels for toys with magnets are in production and should hit the market in a few months.
