13 year old boy New Zealand swallowed up to 100 powerful magnets he bought online, forcing surgeons to remove tissue from his intestines, doctors said on Friday.
After four days of abdominal pain, the unnamed teenager was taken to Tauranga Hospital on the North Island. “He reported that approximately a week earlier he had swallowed between 80 and 100 high-power (neodymium) 5x2mm magnets,” hospital doctors said in a report published in the New Zealand Medical Journal.
They said the magnets, which have been banned in New Zealand since January 2013, were purchased on the Temu online platform.
X-rays showed that the magnets were stuck together in four straight lines inside the baby's intestines. “They appeared to be in separate parts of the intestine, stuck together by magnetic forces,” they said.
The date of the operation is not specified. Temu said he had launched an investigation to ensure the company complied with New Zealand safety regulations.
Doctors said the pressure from the magnets caused necrosis – tissue death – in four areas of the boy's small intestine and cecum, which is part of the colon. Surgeons removed dead tissue and magnets, and the child was able to return home after eight days in the hospital.
“This case highlights not only the dangers of ingesting magnets, but also the dangers of the online marketplace for our pediatric population,” said paper authors Binura Lekamalage, Lucinda Duncan-Were and Nicola Davis.
They say surgery to swallow magnets can lead to complications later in life, such as intestinal obstruction, abdominal hernia and chronic pain.
Temu said he was sorry to hear about the boy's surgery. “We have launched an internal review and have contacted the authors of the New Zealand Medical Journal article to obtain more details about this case,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“At this stage, we were unable to confirm whether the magnets were purchased through Temu or identify the specific product listing. However, our teams are reviewing the relevant listings to ensure full compliance with local safety requirements.”
Chinese e-commerce company has come under criticism in markets, including the EU, for allegedly not doing enough to remove illegal products from its platform.
