Toy manufacturing company Spin Master has reached a settlement with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.3 million after the sale of a hazardous toy that reportedly put children into comas. The settlement also resolves staff allegations that Spin Master knowingly failed to report the defect and hazard associated with Aqua Dots to the CPSC immediately, said a CPSC statement.
“We agreed to pay $1.3 million,” said Spin Master’s spokesperson, Harold Chizick. “And through that settlement, we do deny any wrongdoing in the matter.”
The Aqua Dots craft kit, recalled in the fall of 2007, contained a substance which, after ingested, metabolized to gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), more commonly known as the date rape drug. According to a statement from the CPSC, staff received reports of two children who had fallen into comas after ingesting the product and required hospitalization.
“Children’s safety is our number one priority. We’re in the toy business,” Chizick said. “We applaud the work the CPSC does and what it stands for and the protection of consumers. So for us, it’s closure.”