As personal injury lawyers in Atlanta, GA, we sometimes hear of a new danger which can cause serious damage or injury. A case in point is electronic cigarettes. Although these devices are meant to help smokers kick a habit that’s dangerous in itself, one man trying to give up smoking in Florida suffered a terrible experience, that has led to safety questions about this product.
A malfunction in the electronic cigarette caused it to explode, causing serious injuries. A faulty battery is thought to have sparked an explosion in the victim’s mouth, taking out some of his front teeth and a part of his tongue and seriously burning his face, the Associated Press reported.
“The best analogy is like it was trying to hold a bottle rocket in your mouth when it went off,” said Joseph Parker, division chief for the North Bay Fire Department, told AP. “The battery flew out of the tube and set the closet on fire.”
Apparently fire investigators don’t yet know the brand of electronic cigarette, the type of battery that exploded or the age of the device. It appears that the battery was a rechargeable lithium battery because a recharging station and other batteries were in the room where the explosion took place. Thomas Kiklas, of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association told AP he was not aware of problems with the cigarettes or batteries exploding.
Nevertheless, as a metro Atlanta, GA injury lawyer, I’m alarmed by the severity of this incident and hope the victim makes a recovery.
For years smokers have faced another other safety hazard in the form of exploding cigarette lighters. The scale of this problem was made apparent in 2006 in a report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission which found there were more than 4,100 injuries linked to lighters in the U.S.A. in seven years up to 2005.
The victim in Florida may want to consider a personal injury lawsuit against the manufacturer of this device. As Marietta personal injury lawyers we are here to help anyone injured by defective devices.
