A product liability lawsuit was recently filed in Washington state court against several manufacturers of vaporizer cartridges and the distributor of the vaporizer device, which was manufactured by C-Cell, a Chinese corporation.
The complaint alleges that the plaintiff, a 44-year-old police officer and former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, consumed various vape products between January 2018 and September 2019. According to the complaint, the plaintiff vaped on September 11, 2019, and woke up with severe wheezing that night. He continued to have difficulties through the weekend and on Monday morning presented at the emergency room. The plaintiff was diagnosed with lipoid pneumonia caused by vaping. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are now more than 800 confirmed or probable cases of vape-related lipoid pneumonia, with 12 deaths across 10 states
A pathology report noted “numerous lipid laden macrophages” on his lungs, “reactive endobronchial cells,” and disease-fighting cells called eosinophils that are seen in reactive airway disease. The plaintiff spent three days in the hospital before being discharged home and allowed to return to work on light duty with the police department.
The plaintiff’s injuries appear similar to what was seen in the “popcorn lung” cases of a decade ago. Those cases were caused by diacetyl oil, an imitation “butter” used in popcorn products, which was vaporized and inhaled by people when they ate popcorn. The result was a wave of popcorn lung toxic tort litigation.
If you or someone you know used a vaporizer and developed lipoid pneumonia, please contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling 713-231-9360 or toll free at 1‑800-594-4884.