William Finley’s parents can probably now see some sort of future for their boy and worry a tad less. In a recent Sacramento Bee news article posted on the web, the toy manufacturer Rose Art Industries settled a lawsuit for over $1 million involving its “Magnetix” brand toy that had injured 4-year old William.

Apparently, two small and separate pieces of powerful magnets from the defective product had attached themselves within the boy’s pelvis after having been ingested. The combined pieces had to be surgically removed but not before causing lasting damage to William. He’ll have to live with abdominal pain and be on a special diet for the rest of his life among other complications.

The Sacramento federal court said there was inadequate labeling on the toy with no indication of the danger posed because of the foreseeable attaching of the pieces to each other even if ingested.

A product defect case such as this highlights how horrific injuries can be caused by defective toys and the horrible consequences, especially for small children. It is important to remember in any product liability case that a product can be termed dangerous and the manufacturer held responsible under a strict liability theory when

- A design defect exists because the product is inherently unsafe in its design; or
- A manufacturing defect exists because a safely designed product becomes dangerous because the manufacturer failed to make the product in accordance with its specifications; or
- A manufacturer gives consumers or users of the product no or inadequate warnings of risk in the use of the product which are not obvious to the common user, or incomplete instructions or lack of clear directions which reduce the risk of injury from the foreseeable use of the product.

More information about the Magnetix, Magtastik, Magnetix Jr, Magnetic Toys product line including the problems and latest defective product recalls can be found on the consumeraffairs.com Web site.

Please refer to this site if you need additional Magnetix toy recall information and consult an experienced and local product liability attorney who has a proven success record.