The rejoinder of Mega Brands president and CEO Marc Bertrand:
"As an organization that is fully committed to providing creative and safe play experiences for children and families, we deeply regret these events and have taken proactive measures to ensure the safety of our products. We are pleased to put this behind us and avoid the uncertainty and distraction of litigation, allowing us to focus all of our attention on growing our business."
The Attorney to the plaintiffs, involving 14 families, has this response:
"The families and myself are very happy with the results. They’ve been treated fairly. I think Mega Brands stepped up and did the right thing, acted responsibly, and took care of the problem."
It all started on Thanksgiving Day, 2005 when one of the plaintiff’s sons -- a 22-month-old toddler from Redmond, Washington -- ingested eight kernel-sized magnetic pieces and died as a result of perforation of his intestinal wall and, subsequently, blood poisoning.
Said magnetic pieces were actually part of the components of one Magnetix toy product manufactured by Montreal-based Mega Brands, Canada’s largest toy company.
Around this time, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said they were aware of 34 incidents involving Magnetix toys, including the one fatality and four other severe injuries.
The mishaps prompted Mega Brands to initiate a replacement program for toy owners with children under the age of 6; at the same time warning retailers of the risks. Correspondingly, warnings were added to their toy labeling.
In March of this year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that the company had agreed to a voluntary recall of roughly 3.8 million units of its magnetic toys.
On October 25, 2006 the toy company reached a $13.5 million settlement with the families without assuming any liability in the cases. Counsels to both parties did not disclose terms of the settlement, which are still subject to court approval.