The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

In 2008, after watching a television show called CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, many parents bought toy fingerprint kits and forensic lab kits. They were manufactured by Planet Toys, Inc. and sold for $30 each.

They were found to contain asbestos, a mineral that is strongly linked to mesothelioma (a form of cancer) and also causes asbestosis, a potentially fatal lung disease. Asbestos is a fibrous substance and its microscopically tiny fibers easily become airborne and can be breathed in. They become lodged in lung tissue, or sometimes in heart or abdominal tissue, and the body is unable to remove them.

Eventually a tumor grows at the site, or scarring occurs that impedes breathing. This takes many years. You can read more on our Mesothelioma Questions page and What Asbestos Can Do To Your Body.

Class Action Suit

In May of 2008, a class action suit was filed against Planet Toys by parents who had bought the toys expecting them to be educational. Both kits had a powder containing asbestos and children could well have been exposed to the asbestos fibers that became airborne, or that they may have accidentally ingested from their fingers.

The Wall St. Journal recently reported that refunds are now being offered to customers who bought these toys. However, Planet Toys filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in March, 2009, after negotiating for a settlement to the class action lawsuit. So it is not this company that will pay for the refunds, but the retailers who sold the toys.

Specifically, those retailers are:

• Toys R Us
• CBS Broadcasting, Inc. and
• K-Mart
  

If you bought either of these toys, you can mail them back free of charge and obtain your refund.

Our mesothelioma and asbestos attorneys will be glad to give you a free consultation if you or a loved one have been exposed to asbestos. Please call or send us an email today.

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