Maryland Accident Law Blog
Mattel, the maker of toys, such as Barbie and Dora, is voluntarily recalling nine million toys in the U.S. It is recalling 18.2 million magnetic toys around the world. Toys with magnets that can come off and are easily swallowed are among the toys being recalled.
Polly Pocket accessories and Polly Pocket Dolls make up 7 million of the toys being recalled. 680,000 Barbie and Tanner play sets, 1 million Doggie Daycare sets, and nearly 350,000 Batman and One Piece magnetic action figures are also being recalled.
The toys were manufactured between May 2003 and November 2006. Some accident reports name children who were seriously injured after they swallowed more than one magnet. Three children had to have surgery because they suffered internal perforations caused by the magnets sticking to each other.
Some 253,000 “Sarge” die-cast toys related to the movie “Cars” by Pixar were recalled because of dangerous levels of lead in the paint. Any “Sarge” toys that are recalled were sold between May 2007 and August 2007.
Mattel says it is going to review its testing procedures, which it claims are already very strict. It is the second recall for the toy company in two weeks.
Fisher-Price, another Mattel Company, recalled 1.5 million toys that had been manufactured in China because of lead paint concerns. Diego and Dora character, as well as Big Bird and Elmo characters were included in the recall.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign offer a number of 2003 statistics involving children and toy-related injuries, including:
Injury and death rates:
• Approximately 155,400 children, ages 14 and under, were treated at hospital emergency rooms for toy-related injuries in 2003. Nearly half of the children treated for these injuries were ages 4 and under.
• Most toy-related injuries do not require hospitalization (97 percent), however, in 2003, 11 children died due to toy-related injuries.
Causes:
• Injury from non-powered scooters is the leading cause of toy-related death.
• Sixty-four percent of toy-related deaths in 2003 were due to choking. About 71 percent of those deaths were attributed to toy balls.
Other causes of toy-related deaths include drowning, suffocation, and riding toy accidents (such as when a child is hit by a motor vehicle while riding a toy, or when the child rides a toy into a body of water).
A person who is injured because of a dangerous or defective toy or any other dangerous/defective product could have grounds to file a products liability claim or lawsuit against the negligent party.
Mattel recalls 9 million toys in U.S., CNN, August 14, 2007
Toy Safety – Injury Statistics and Incidence Rate, ChildrenSNYP.org
Related Web Resources:
List of Toys in Mattel Recall, Forbes.com, August 14, 2007
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Lebowitz and Mzhen handles products liability cases and other personal injury cases for persons that have been injured or whose loved one has been killed in Maryland or Washington D.C. because of a hazardous/defective product. We also are experienced in dealing with injury cases involving minors.
To schedule your free consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys, contact Lebowitz and Mzhen today.