A United States Marine has filed suit in San Diego County against the makers, wholesalers and retailers of electronic cigarettes after the lithium-ion battery contained within his E-cig device exploded in the pocket of his pants while on duty. Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Rahul Ravipudi and Robert Glassman represent Plaintiffs Ryan Reardon and his wife in a Product Liability case that has left the 23-year-old husband and new father with significant burns following the spontaneous explosion and resulting fire from his defective vaping device. The Plaintiffs are also represented by Arash Khorsandi of the Law Office of Arash Khorsandi.
On the evening of June 9, 2016, U.S. Marine Ryan Reardon was patrolling the barracks at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, CA when an e-cigarette device contained within the left pocket of his pants exploded and caught fire. Corporal Reardon suffered severe burn injuries to his left thigh, knee and calf and was airlifted by helicopter to the University of California San Diego Burn Unit where he remained hospitalized for nearly two weeks. Due to the severity of his burns, Corporal Reardon was forced to undergo skin grafting which involved removing significant portions of skin from his right thigh, which was then grafted and stapled to the severely burned portions of his left thigh.
As a result of the incident, Corporal Reardon has suffered permanent injury and scarring to his body as well as great emotional distress and remains on medical leave from the U.S. Marine Corp. The incident has also had a severely negative impact on his wife, Sarah, who is included in the lawsuit for loss of consortium.
Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP represents many clients throughout California who have suffered severe and debilitating injuries as a direct and proximate result of defective E-cigarettes, lithium-ion batteries, and accompanying component parts. Unlike many battery-powered consumer products, such as cell phones and tablets, E-cigarettes are not subjected to stringent safety tests before going to market. There is no government regulation in place mandating the safety of the electronics or batteries found in these devices, despite their obvious danger and continued growth in popularity.