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[1] A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand swallowed high-powered magnets last month. He suffered four days of pain before being taken to Tauranga Hospital. He had to undergo surgery to remove the magnets. Doctors said they also had to remove tissue from his intestines. A report in the New Zealand Medical Journal by hospital doctors said he had ingested about 80 to 100 high-power magnets. They were 5mm by 2mm in size.
[2] The magnets have been banned in New Zealand since January 2013. Doctors said the teen bought the magnets from the online shopping platform Temu. Temu said it had started an investigation into following New Zealand’s safety requirements.
[3] An X-ray showed the magnets had clumped together in four lines inside the child’s intestines. No date was given for the operation. The magnets’ pressure caused necrosis, or tissue death, the doctors said. The tissue died in four areas of the boy’s small bowel and caecum, which is part of the large intestine. Surgeons removed the dead tissue and retrieved the magnets. The child returned home after eight days in hospital.
[4] Binura Lekamalage, Lucinda Duncan-Were and Nicola Davis are the authors of the report. They said the case showed the dangers of eating magnets and the dangers of online marketplaces, especially for children. A surgery to remove swallowed magnets could lead to problems later in life, they said. These include bowel obstruction, abdominal hernia and chronic pain.
[5] Temu said it was sorry to learn of the boy’s surgery. In a statement, a spokesperson said the company had launched an internal review. The company also said it reached out to the authors of the journal article for more details about the case.
[6] “At this stage, we have not been able to confirm whether the magnets involved were purchased through Temu or identify the specific product listing,” the spokesperson said. “Nonetheless, our teams are reviewing relevant listings to ensure full compliance with local safety requirements.” Temu has been criticised in some markets, such as the European Union, for allegedly failing to remove illegal items from its platform.
Source: Agence France-Presse, October 24
