David's Bridal is sold; New rules for magnetic toys

August 28, 2012 (WPVI) -- first paragraph

We're talking about Conshohocken-based David's Bridal. The store bills itself as the largest bridal gown and accessories retailer in the country and has 300 stores nationwide. While it is being sold to a New York-based buy-out firm - that does not mean brides need to panic.

David's Bridal is being sold for $1.05 billion but officials with the chain are assuring customers they have no need to worry.

Action News met Benjamin Palmer back in 2007 when he was 2 years old.

Just one month before we met Benjamin, he'd undergone emergency surgery that included a bowel resection, the removal of his appendix and part of his colon.

"It's so scary as a mother to watch your child almost die in front of you7 and there's nothing you can do," Melissa Palmer, Benjamin's mother, told us.

Benjamin's mom blamed this magnetic building set for her son's injuries, saying Benjamin ingested 2 small but incredibly powerful magnets that dislodged from their plastic casing.

This toy and many others like it have been recalled and the Consumer Product Safety Commission is suing some companies that are refusing to take the products off stores shelves..

The CPSC estimates that magnetic toys were associated with 1,700 emergency room-treated injuries between 2009 and 2011. Now, the agency is proposing a mandatory federal standard for small, high-powered magnet sets.

The standard would set performance requirements for magnet sets based on their size and strength. Magnet sets that do not meet the performance requirement could not be sold as desk toys and, according to one CPSC commissioner, would essentially ban all magnet sets sold today.

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