Surgeons remove dozens of magnets from teen’s stomach

A 13-year-old boy was hospitalized after eating dozens of high-powered magnets, according to a recently published case report in the New Zealand Medical Journal. The boy lost part of his bowel as a result, doctors wrote. 

The boy, who was not identified in the case report, ate between 80 and 100 magnets. The “high-power” magnets were 5×2 millimeters each, the report said. 

After eating the magnets, the teen had general abdominal pain for four days. When he arrived at the hospital, he told doctors he had eaten the magnets about a week earlier. The hospital he was treated at was not identified in the report. 

The case report did not say if the boy explained why or how he ate the magnets. 

Eating multiple magnets can be incredibly dangerous because they can clamp together inside the body and cause organ damage or other complications. Patients who eat multiple magnets often need surgical intervention, according to the report. High-powered magnets, which are often sold as desktop toys for adults, are particularly risky. They can be five to 10 times stronger than traditional refrigerator magnets, CBS News reported in 2019. 

Scans showed that the magnets had linked into four chains inside the teen’s bowel and at the start of his large intestine. The amount of magnets in his body disrupted some imaging, the report said, so doctors proceeded with an exploratory surgery. 

During the operation, surgeons found the magnet chains were causing pressure necrosis in the bowel and large intestine. Pressure necrosis occurs when tissue dies because there is too much pressure on it for an extended period of time. The surgeons were able to successfully remove the magnets, and the boy recovered from the operation. He was discharged after eight days in the hospital, the report said. 

The sale of these high-powered magnets has been permanently banned in New Zealand, but the prohibition is difficult to enforce because the magnets can be easily and cheaply purchased online, the report noted. The boy told doctors he purchased the magnets on the online site Temu. CBS News reached out to Temu to confirm the purchase and ask if the online retailer works to prevent shipping products to countries where they are banned, but did not immediately get a response. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has worked to limit the sale of high-powered magnets in the United States. In 2014, the agency issued a ban on high-powered magnet sets, but it was overturned in court two years later. In September 2022, the agency established a mandatory safety standard for magnets. The rule sets a power limit for any product with loose or separable magnets, including those intended for purposes including entertainment and stress relief. 

The CPSC also calls the magnets a safety risk and has issued numerous recalls for products that contain them.