THE mum of an 18-year-old boy who “died from vaping” is suing an e-cigarette company in landmark case.
Lisa Vail believes her son Daniel Wakefield, of Tampa, Florida, died in August last year as a result of vaping Juul products.
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His death came almost a year before a surge of mysterious vaping-related lung illnesses, which have so far killed 29 people and left 1,300 sick.
A medical examiner attributed his death to natural causes and noted that the teen had asthma.
But Daniel’s family say it wasn’t something he had ever struggled with and he was active up until his death.
First lawsuit
They are convinced that his vaping addiction was to blame, adding that his Juul e-cigarette was barely out of his reach since he was 15.
Angela Nehmens, an attorney with Levin Simes Abrams, which filed a federal lawsuit on Lisa’s behalf, said: “Juul was the only change in this boy’s otherwise healthy life.”
It’s the first time a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed over vaping and also accuses the company of misleading marketing for advertising products as safe.
Juul was the only change in this boy’s otherwise healthy life
Angela Nehmens
On the night of Daniel’s death, he had been staying at his dad’s house, according to Buzzfeed.
The teen had called him mum at around 7pm and texted her a few hours later when he went to sleep.
When his dad got up at around 4am for a glass of water, he found Daniel dead on the couch.
Vape habit
Unlike the more recent vaping-related deaths, Daniel didn’t appear sick before he died.
He started vaping at 15 and was hospitalised around a year later due to breathing and lung complications.
Daniel was so addicted to Juul even at that point that hospital staff applied nicotine patches during his stay to prevent withdrawal, the lawsuit stated.
Mahzad Hite, another attorney representing Wakefield’s family, said that young people encounter stronger withdrawal symptoms than adults.
“Their brain can’t handle it,” she said.
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She explained that they can experience a lack of focus, mood swings, behavioural issues and in one case, a teen even threatened suicide.
According to the complaint, on one occasion Daniel became so enraged when he didn’t have access to his Juul that he threw a mini-fridge from the top floor of his home.
His parents say he exclusively vaped Juul products and while his mum raised concerns, he had assured her he’d read about the device’s safety, the suit alleges.
It’s also claimed that the Juul didn’t make him cough or create symptoms that would have come with frequent smoking.
How safe are e-cigarettes in the UK?
In the UK, e-cigarettes are tightly regulated for safety and quality.
They’re not completely risk free, but they carry a small fraction of the risk of cigarettes.
E-cigarettes do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements in tobacco smoke.
The liquid and vapour contain some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke, but at much lower levels.
While nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, it’s relatively harmless.
Almost all of the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke, many of which are toxic.
Nicotine replacement therapy has been widely used for many years to help people stop smoking and is a safe treatment.
There’s no evidence so far that vaping causes harm to other people around you.
This is in contrast to secondhand smoke from smoking, which is known to be very harmful to health.
Source: NHS
In the hours before his death, he showed no difficult breathing or wheezing, the complaint states.
The long-term effects of vaping remains unknown and investigators in the US are attempting to find the cause behind an outbreak of deaths and illnesses.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported more than 200 extra cases in just seven days as the epidemic deepens.
US health officials said there may be more than one cause behind the nationwide outbreak of serious lung illnesses linked to vaping.
Investigators have pointed to vaping oils containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, as being especially risky, but have not yet tied the cases to any specific product or compound.
Dr Ned Sharpless, acting commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said the agency has begun testing on more than 700 product samples and product parts gathered from patients and health officials.
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FDA scientists are testing for a broad range of chemicals, including nicotine, THC and other marijuana components, metals, cutting agents and other additives, pesticides and toxins.
Dr Sharpless said: “Based on our testing of samples to date, there does not appear to be one product or substance involved in all of the cases. It may be there is more than one cause to this outbreak.
“We do know that THC is present in most of the samples tested to date.”
The Sun Online has contacted Juul – but the company is yet to respond to a request for comment.
