Dangerous Product; Water Balz Sends Infant to the Hospital

What Happened:

A young Texas (TX) child was rushed to the hospital after she swallowed a expanding polymer ball called Water Balz that is sold as a toy.  At first her grandmother thought the infant had only swallowed a piece of candy but later the infant was vomiting, had a distended belly and painful constipation.  When doctors at the emergency room operated they found the water ball and discovered it had completely blocked her intestines.  Within two hours, the ball had doubled in size, and by 12 hours it had doubled in size again to about 4 centimeters.

The Virginia Injury Lawyer’s Perspective:

As an experienced Virginia (VA) Defective and Faulty Products Attorney I know that you must be able to prove the product was unreasonably dangerous or defective in order to go to court.  Although these toys are not made for young children it is not unreasonable to conclude that many households have older and younger children and that young children may be exposed to the toy.  The warning label on the toy simply reads “For ages 4 and up. Warning: choking hazard.” With the potential to cause severe injury or even death in infants the warning label should be much more explicit.  At first the company argued that their product and warning label was sufficient even stating, “Even Legos are dangerous to an 8-month-old.”  However Legos don’t expand up to 400 times their original size as Water Balz do. 

It took almost two months after this nearly fatal accident for the company, Dunecraft, to recall the Water Balz and only five days before Christmas.  Many consumers may have already bought the toy and may not know of the recall. 

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