Though they are marketed as a safer alternative to cigarettes, some users have found electronic cigarettes to be incredibly dangerous. Since hitting the market in 2007, dozens of lawsuits have been filed by e-cig users whose devices overheated, caught fire, or exploded, causing losses and serious injuries. Users have suffered serious groin and thigh burns, finger amputations and burns, facial fractures, tooth loss, holes being blown through their tongue or mouth, and even broken necks and blindness from exploding pens and mods.
If you or someone in your family has been injured by an electronic cigarette fire or explosion, call us today to learn if you are eligible to seek financial compensation for your injuries and losses.
Important Warning Video
Table of Contents
Safety and Efficacy
Despite being marketed and promoted as safer than traditional cigarettes, the actual safety of these electronic cigarettes is unknown. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, at least 134 reports of fires, explosions, and device overheating were reported across the country between 2009 and January 2016.
FDA Scrutiny
As the safety of these types of devices continues to be under scrutiny, the FDA has started issuing rules and regulation that aim to increase safety. Most recently, the government agency determined e-cig devices to fall under the same classifications as cigarettes, cigars, roll-your-own, and smokeless tobacco. Under the new rules, device manufacturers will not be able to alter or modify existing devices, nor introduce new devices, coils, and flavors unless it has prior approval from the FDA.
If you were injured or suffered losses when your e-cig caught fire or exploded, you might be eligible for compensation. Call us today to learn more.
Dangers & Complications
While modified devices were believed to the only devices that were exploding, the U.S. Fire Administration found at least 24 reports of pens catching fire or exploding. At first, the industry blamed the fires and explosions on user mishandling. However, we now know that the problem is the batteries. The lithium-ion batteries used in some devices are cheaply made in China and may be coupled with a design that allows them to react to a battery failure like a ‘flaming rocket,’ the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) warned.
Toxic Chemicals and Accidental Poisonings
Unfortunately, people all over the country are learning that vape devices can literally explode in your face, catch fire in your pocket or purse, catch your vehicle, home, or even workplace on fire. For other users, the health risks of e-cigs are causing concern. Studies have found formaldehyde and diacetyl in e-cig liquid, a chemical associated with popcorn lung, and at least one child has died from accidental e-juice poisoning.
If you or someone in your family is suffering an e-cig complication like fire, explosions, burns, broken bones or accident death, contact us today to learn if you legal eligible to seek compensation.
Severe Burns
Users of electronic cigarette pens and mods are suffering severe burns and serious injuries when these devices catch fire or explode. In one case, a woman suffered serious burns when her device exploded while she was charging it in her car. A California jury awarded her $1.9 million for her injuries and losses.
Burn Statistics
Users have reported leg and thigh burns from devices exploding while in pockets and purses. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study reporting that in nine months, 15 patients seen at the University of Washington Medical Center were injured by an e-cig explosion. Of those, 12 were extensively burned requiring wound care and skin grafts, and five suffered chemical burns from the batteries and had to receive wound care treatment. Four more patients suffered blast injuries that caused extensive loss of tissue, tooth loss, and traumatic tattooing from particles embedding under the skin. Most injuries were to the groin and thigh, followed by the hands, and face.
If you were seriously burned in a vaping accident, call us today. You may be eligible for financial compensation.
Serious Injuries
Exploding e-cigs have caused users serious injuries in addition to burns. In fact, media reports a recent case involved a man who lost a finger and several teeth when his e-cig exploded while he was using it. Another man suffered serious injuries when his vape blew up, including a hole in his tongue, burns to his hand, and the loss of several teeth.
Explosion Causes Blindness
A teen in New York City was testing an e-cig device out in a store when it exploded causing damage to both his eyes, including embedment of foreign particles. In November of 2015, a device exploded causing the user to suffer a broken neck, facial fractures, and teeth loss.
Vape users across the country are suffering severe mouth injuries, face and neck injuries, losing fingers, teeth, eyes, as well as pieces of tongue and lip. If you or a family member suffered a serious burn or severe injury or property loss from an e-cig explosion or fire, call us today. You may be eligible for compensation.
Damaging Fires
C-cig devices are exploding and catching fire in homes, vehicles, at school, and at work. Even when that work is aboard a military vessel. In fact, evidence from the Naval Safety Center shows that from October 2015 through May 2016, there were 12 vaping incidents of Navy or Marine personnel suffering vape-related fires and explosions. Seven of these fires occurred onboard a vessel, and two of those fires were bad enough that fire equipment was needed to put them out. Eight of these incidents occurred while the pen or mod was in the service member’s pocket resulting in first or second-degree burns. Four explosions caused the military personnel to suffer burns and facial and dental injury. One sailor from the USS Nimitz suffered severe vehicle damage when his e-cig exploded and burned the interior of his car. Needless to say, e-cig devices are no longer permitted onboard.
Banned from Luggage
The risk of vape explosions is so great that the U.S. Department of Transportation has banned them, even in luggage, saying that the devices have started fires. The issue is so bad that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun regulating the devices.
If you or a family member were injured by an exploding e-cig or a vape device that caught fire call us today. You may be eligible for compensation for your injuries.
A Deeper Look into Exploding E-Cigs
In May 2018 a Florida man was killed when his e-cig device exploded. The man suffered burns to 80 percent of his body and was found dead after firefighters put out the blaze that engulfed his home. However, more severe injuries were discovered during a medical examination conducted by the Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner’s office. The vape device the man was using at the time of the explosion fired pieces into his cranium causing him to die of projectile wounds to his head.
The previous December, a man from Hawaii lost four teeth and required approximately 40 stitches when his device exploded when he took a puff. A South Carolina man filed a lawsuit against Sony after the spare lithium-ion battery in his pocket exploded causing him to suffer severe leg burns requiring multiple surgeries and skin grafts.
A young California man was leaving for work one winter day in January 2018 when the spare e-cig battery in his pocket exploded, igniting his pants, and charring his genitals, thighs, and about 75 percent of his penis. He is still recovering.
A man in Plainfield, Illinois suffered burns when his e-cig batteries exploded in his pockets. According to a lawsuit filed by the man and his wife, the man had one battery in each of his front pants pockets. He felt heat from one of his pockets and then the other. The lawsuit claims the man’s wife lost the companionship of her husband after the accident, and loss of consortium, including the companionship and sexual relations.
In June 2018, a woman suffered a significant injury to her face after she had the lithium battery replaced at a vape shop in Illinois. The device exploded when she took her first puff, injuring her and starting a fire at the store counter.
In 2016, a man lost his left eye when the e-cig device he had just set down exploded next to him sending shrapnel into the side of his face. His orbital and sinus bones were smashed, and pieces lodged in his eyeball. He said it felt like getting hit in the side of the head with a baseball bat. He was left permanently blind from the explosion.
What’s Going On?
The group at eCigOne.com created a comprehensive list of e-cig device explosions from the across the globe. As of December 2017, the site listed 267 e-cigarette explosions. Of these explosions:
- 69 devices exploded during use
- 89 devices exploded while being charged
- 58 devices exploded while in storage and being transported
- 51 device explosions involved spare batteries
- 177 device explosions resulted in personal injury
If you were seriously burned or otherwise injured because your e-cig device exploded, you have rights. Contact us now to learn more about your rights, and whether you are entitled to seek compensation for your injuries.
Staying Safe
According to the group, there are a few things you can do to help protect yourself against e-cig fires and explosions.
Always use the charging accessory provided with your e-cig device. If no wall charger was included, reach out to the device manufacturer for guidance. Do not use an alternate charger, such as the one for your phone or tablet. Use wall charges instead of your computer’s USB port because the current delivered to the device from the computer may vary by amps from what’s recommended.
Any spare batteries should be transported in a storage case. Many e-cig makers and distributors provide battery storage containers for the spare batteries they provide. Carrying a loose battery in your purse or pocket is dangerous, as any metal object that comes in contact with the terminals of the battery could cause an explosion.
Don’t use Mech Mods. Mechanical mods do not have the safety features that regulated devices have. A mod is basically a battery tube that has a connector for an atomizer. There is no internal circuit board to regulate voltage and wattage. Basically, they have a button that you press to complete the circuit. If you do not have a thorough understanding of these devices and how to make them safe, do not use them.
Contact Us Today
Did you know that product makers are legally obligated to ensure their products are safe? If they do not meet that obligation, then they may be responsible by law for injuries sustained. When you are injured due to no fault of your own, the law is on your side.
If you’ve suffered serious injury from your e-cig device, fill out the form or give us a call today to learn whether you are eligible to seek compensation for your injuries.
Call Now For a Free & Confidential Case Evaluation 877-571-8918
