Doctors at the Alexander Burn Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma have treated four patients for third-degree burns in the last month when the batteries their e-cigarettes exploded.

Dr. Tara Wilson told Channel 2 TV that the men in their their mid-20s to mid-30s suffered burns to their thighs, which required surgery and at least a week of hospitalization.

Two patients are suing the companies that sold them the e cigarettes. The patients claim they were carrying the e-cigs in their pockets when the battery exploded.

MDL Coming?

As the number of cases begin to multiply, plaintiff attorneys may seek to organize a multi-district litigation (MDL) docket, where hundreds of cases can be tried before a single court.

MDLs have been formed in other emerging phase cases involving IVC Filters (MDL 2641 and 2570), Essure Birth Control, Fluoroquinolones (MDL 2642) and SGLT2 Inhibitors like Invokana.

 

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A Phoenix, AZ man was hospitalzied with extensive burns after batteries from an e-cigarette exploded, According to a report from ABC15.com. David Garcia says he was driving down the road when two extra e-cigarette batteries exploded in his pocket inflicting significant burns to his legs and hands.

Once the batteries exploded, the victim began suffering extreme pain and discomfort and desperately called his wife. The victim’s wife told ABC15 that, “He called screaming saying he was on fire. My eight-year-old daughter is the one who answered the phone.” The victim is currently spending time at a local hospital, where he is being treated for his wounds.

Faulty lithium-ion batteries

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has indicated that there have been 25 reported e-cigarette explosions in the past 9 years that e-cigarettes have been available to consumers. Under-reporting is also widely speculated so the true number of incidents could be significantly higher. They have concluded that the likely cause for most of these explosions is the faulty lithium-ion batteries that some brands of e-cigarettes use to power their devices. The batteries, when overheated, sustain an overload of pressure which causes the energy inside the battery to explode through the cap.

Furthermore, this is not the first e-cigarette explosion and FEMA has concluded that as the popularity of these devices increase as does the likelihood of future explosions, according to Attorney Marc Freund of LipsigLawyers.com. Another e-cigarette explosion occurred in England, where an e-cigarette that was charging behind the bar was projected across the room at a local barmaid.

 

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