Tobacco kills, and yet millions of people continue to light up cigarettes across the globe. In an effort to cut down on the habit many have chosen to take up E-cigarettes, (or E-cigs and Vape pens).
The trend has become so popular, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports tobacco use amongst teens is at an all-time high. The study also finds that if current smoking rates continue, nearly 6-million of those Americans under the age of 18 today will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease.
Last year roughly 3-million teens reported using E-cigarettes. Compare that number to the 1.6 million who claimed to use traditional cigarettes in 2015.
Up until recently, it was widely believed the E-cigarettes were far safer. New studies such as this one by the CDC, are finding that’s just not true. Ironically (in some people’s opinions), this increase in E-cigarette use has also given rise to more lawsuits.
Last year stories about exploding E-cigs were plastered all over the news. A California woman won the nation’s first liability lawsuit against an E-cig company last October. She was awarded $1.9 million. She suffered major burns after the battery on her device caught fire inside her car.
A FEMA report found that between 2009 and 2014 there were 25 incidents of fires associated with E-cigarettes. Of those only nine involved physical injuries. However, since that report was released, nearly half a dozen lawsuits in California alone have been filed.
For seasoned attorneys like us, these cases remind of the BIC lighter lawsuits from a few decades ago. More recently, the rash of exploding hoverboard batteries this past holiday season.
E-cigarettes are not regulated, so the full scope of health risks remains unknown. What we do know is that the lithium batteries inside the devices can be dangerous.
Should you find yourself the victim of a defective or exploding E-cigarette contact the best Las Vegas Personal Injury attorneys we know, Pickard Parry Pfau.
