A US family has won a $US435,000 ($A557,690) judgment in federal court after a child swallowed a decorative bead coated with a chemical that metabolised into a date-rape drug when ingested, marking the first verdict of its kind in the country over the toy.
The jury decision on Thursday in favour of Mark and Beth Monje came in one of several lawsuits filed against Aqua Dots, a toy craft kit in which children can create designs by spraying beads with water.
The product was the subject of a recall in 2007 amid reports nine children in the US and three in Australia became sick after swallowing the beads.
The recall by the Consumer Protection Safety Commission led to the collection of about 4 million kits.
Aqua Dots were produced in China by Australia-based Moose Enterprise and imported into the US by Spin Master in 2007.
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The toy was sold in Australia under the name Bindeez.
Tests showed the beads were coated with a chemical that, when ingested, metabolised into gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), more commonly known as the "date-rape" drug.
The compound can induce breathing problems, nausea, vomiting, unconsciousness, coma and death.
Monje's toddler son swallowed some of the beads in July 2007, resulting in what the family's lawyer says is permanent brain damage, loss of fine motor skills and sense of smell.
The jury awarded the Monjes $US58,000 for medical bills and another $US377,000 for pain and suffering, lawyer Melanie McBride said.
McBride said the jury found Moose Enterprise responsible for developing the toy and for the work of the Chinese lab it hired to manufacture the toy.
