BUTTON BATTERY SWALLOWING DANGER ALERT

I also agree with StarDreamer. If you said 2+2=4 some members will disagree just because it is you.

Because it is medical care and prescriptions.

Rant away StarDreamer; I totally agree with you.

Sorry, my mistake, I should have not gone so way off-topic by having a rant making a comment about VAT.

MawtheMerrier

Indeed it is.
Why would one not pay VAT on vets bills any more or less than decorators, mechanics, any service provider?
Straw man argument.

Because it is medical care and prescriptions.

Chestnut

Also those little silver magnetic balls. They are just as bad if not worse. They stick together inside the child and need removing. They should be banned altogether.

I saw something about that some time ago. A child had swllowed several at different times and they had all met up and formed a clump in the child's sigmoid colon, and major surgery had taken place to remove them.

Another favourite for children to eat, ingest or swallow is those in-wash scent things.......Unstoppables I think they're called. They look just like sweets.

Indeed it is.
Why would one not pay VAT on vets bills any more or less than decorators, mechanics, any service provider?
Straw man argument.

Chewbacca

A friend's new puppy was at "the chewing and eating everything" stage. It took her daughter's little wristwatch and ate it; there was a button battery inside. Puppy was lucky to survive the operation to remove it from it's stomach and the vet bills were huge.

Including the VAT, which, in response to a petition in around 2008 or so, could not be changed because of a treaty which came into effect in 1973.

But we are not in the EU now, ...

But that is for another thread!

I have a small plastic box in which I put any used batteries. When it's full they can then be disposed of at a collection point, usually a supermarket.

It's not so much the packaging but waht people do when changing the batteries. They can be easily dropped and then they roll away out of sight of responsible adult.

I always change hearing aid batteries over an open box that will contain it if I drop it.

The warning stickers on packaging don't help much when the battery is already inserted into the back of the gadget and the child can access it without too much difficulty.

Star Dreamer, a worth while warning. Many people still don't know these tiny batteries are dangerous . There needs to be a national info campaign.

There has been a warning about button batteries for years. That's why they changed the packaging and making then harder to get out of the packet plus there is a warning sticker on the battery to keep away from children.

A friend's new puppy was at "the chewing and eating everything" stage. It took her daughter's little wristwatch and ate it; there was a button battery inside. Puppy was lucky to survive the operation to remove it from it's stomach and the vet bills were huge.

My DGS finished up in A&E when he was at crawling stage as he found his way into a drawer in which there were button batteries, when DD's back was turned for a moment. She did not know if he had swallowed one but played safe - luckily an x-ray showed all well.

Also those little silver magnetic balls. They are just as bad if not worse. They stick together inside the child and need removing. They should be banned altogether.

I think we have had warnings about this for several years, but a reminder is always worth bringing to people’s attention