As reported by Courthouse News Service, Cavins, a public school counselor and private therapist, began vaping in 2014 to try to wean himself off chewing tobacco. While working at his computer on April 15 of this year with his e-cigarette beside him, it “suddenly exploded, striking Joseph in the left eye, continuing past his head, hitting the ceiling, ricocheting off the wall and landing on top of the computer station, where it started a fire,” he says in his May 19 complaint in Orange County Court.  It smashed his orbital and sinus bones, “left several pieces of shrapnel inside the eyeball itself [and] Joseph lost his left eyeball as a result.”
     His wife extinguished the fire and drove him to two hospitals for seven hours of surgery, after which doctors said it would be safer to remove his left eyeball to avoid the possibility that his body’s immune system would attack his right eye as well, leaving him blind. He will need more surgery to fix his broken bones, reconstructive surgery on his sinus cavity, and he and his wife have both missed work.
     Cavins sued four distributors and retailers: The Vapor Loft, VapeItUp, Lan & Mike International Trading dba Vapor DNA, and Vaping American Made Products — all California LLCs.
     Most vaping machines are made in China. They consists of a tank or cartridge to hold the liquid nicotine and flavorings, an atomizer, and a lithium-ion battery to heat the juice. It’s the batteries that “have an inherent risk of fire and explosion” and have repeatedly caused “explosions, fires and serious injury,” Cavins says in the complaint.
     Last week, Courthouse News reported a lawsuit from a San Diego man who said his e-cigarette exploded and smashed four teeth. Cavins’ lawsuit cites the case of a New Jersey man whose vape exploded in his pocket and set his pants on fire. A medical report in that case, and others, cited “‘poor design, use of low-quality materials, manufacturing flaws and defects, and improper use and handling, which can all contribute to a condition known as “thermal runaway,” where the internal battery temperature can increase to the point of causing a battery fire or explosion,'” Cavins says.
     In essence, the tube functions like a gun barrel, and “the battery can be propelled like a bullet or rocket,” Cavins says, citing an October 2014 reports from the U.S. Fire Administration, “Electronic Cigarette Fires and Explosions.”
     The complaint continues: “There are different methods to protect against these batteries, but because of a lack of regulation, the protections are left up to the e-cigarette manufacturers.”
     The 26-page lawsuit, which contains a wealth of information about the vaping industry, claims, as have critics of vaping, that the electronic smokes are aimed at children. “Since e-cigarette marketing is completely unfettered and unregulated, e-cigarette products reach minors and people who would never smoke a traditional cigarette,” the complaint states.
     “The variety of flavors offered, including root beer float, bubble gum, and cotton candy, further target and spark the intrigue of minors.” Cavins attributes that allegation to a 2015 report from the California Department of Public Health: “State Health Officer’s Report on E-Cigarettes: A Community Health Threat.”
     Cavins also blames the unrestricted advertising of vaping, on TV and radio, “where tobacco advertisements have been banned for more than 40 years.” And, he says, vape smoke often contains lead, nickel, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, which are carcinogenic.
     Cavins and his wife Patricia seek punitive, special and general damages, property damages, interest and legal costs for product liability and loss of consortium. They are also seeking punitive damages for strict product liability, negligent product liability and loss of consortium.
     A representative for The Vapor Loft said the company is aware of the lawsuit and declined to comment.

The upper-deck railing at Turner Field should have been higher than 33 inches, the family of a man who fell to his death at an Atlanta Braves game last year claimed in court. In a wrongful-death suit filed in Fulton County, Georgia against the Braves and Major League Baseball,  the family of Greg Murrey says his death could easily have been prevented if Turner Field had guardrails at least 42 inches high.

As reported in the Claims Journal, former Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell and three co-defendants were spared by the judge on Wednesday from paying restitution to the families of hundreds who got sick after eating tainted peanut butter in 2008 and 2009. The outbreak was blamed for nine deaths and 714 illnesses.

Convicted of knowingly shipping tainted peanut butter and faking results of lab tests for salmonella, Parnell received the harshest criminal penalty ever for a U.S. producer in a food-borne illness case when he was sentenced to prison in September. His brother, food broker Michael Parnell, got 20 years in prison.

Now, as reported by Florida’s WPLG Local 10 News, she has filed a lawsuit demanding that cruise lines provide lifeguards at children’s pools.

“Really in a matter of seconds we realized that our son wasn’t there anymore and we started looking for him,”  Azzia said. “He was at the bottom of the pool.”

The annual Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Spotlight on Highway Safety Report offers the first look at 2015 pedestrian fatality trends, based on data from state highway agencies. “We are projecting the largest year-to-year increase in pedestrian fatalities since national records have been kept, and therefore we are quite alarmed,” said Richard Retting, one of the report’s authors from Sam Schwartz Consulting.

Since the Fatality Analysis Reporting System was established in 1975, the annual change pedestrian fatalities has varied from a 10.5 percent decrease to an 8.1 percent increase.

According to the petition, Ezra and her twin brother were born prematurely on Aug. 14, 2010. Ezra was then admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. On Sept. 13, 2010, Ezra suffered a skull fracture after she was dropped or pulled to the floor by Lovelace, a registered nurse who was responsible for taking care of the infant.

Court records show Christus transferred Ezra to UTMB hospital in Galveston “for an expert evaluation by a neurosurgeon and a neurologist based upon the request of Ezra’s family.”  Dorsey claims that neurosurgeon, Dr. Aaron Mohanty, evaluated Ezra a few months after her fall and opined that the fall caused Ezra’s skull fracture, the skull fracture caused “significant trauma”, and the fracture had not yet healed, court records show.

Cochlear implants are installed in a patient’s inner ear and connect to an external transmitter behind their ear. Unlike hearing aids, they don’t amplify sounds. Instead they convert them to electric signals that are sent through the auditory nerve to the brain.

Garces and her husband sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Cochlear Americas and Tyco Integrated Security on Feb. 12, two days before the two-year statute of limitations deadline on their claims. Garces says her hearing and health were damaged by a visit to a Wal-Mart store in Quakertown, PA., on Feb. 14, 2014.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein ordered a new trial, saying she found the assistant’s testimony at a hearing last month credible – and that newly uncovered emails expose “grave inconsistencies” with James Hausman’s story.

According to the Claims Journal, Hausman, of Springfield, Illinois, sued Holland America Line in 2013. He said he suffered dizziness and seizures after an automatic sliding door improperly closed and struck his head as the ship approached Honolulu. After a two-week trial in October, a jury awarded him $21.5 million.

Soon afterwards, however, Hausman’s former personal assistant, Amy Mizeur, came forward to say she had watched him spend several days deleting emails that he should have turned over to Holland America’s lawyers before the trial. He also failed to disclose the existence of one of his email accounts, she stated. Mizeur worked for Hausman at The Gold Center, a precious metals dealer in Springfield.

The allegations prompted Judge Rothstein to hold a hearing last month, where she found Mizeur more credible than her boss. “As a witness, he came across evasive and untrustworthy,” the judge wrote. “He appeared to weigh each answer, not for its truthfulness, but to assess whether it would damage his case. Mr. Hausman also seemed to capitalize on his alleged brain injury when it was convenient for him. He was confused or claimed memory loss when confronted with a question or exhibit that appeared to undermine his claims, yet was animated and full or information when his testimony supported his case.”

Further, Rothstein noted, some of the emails that Mizeur was able to recover – even after Hausman instructed her to delete them – “cast doubt on his veracity.” For example, he testified at trial that since his injury he avoids using ladders because he is afraid of falling. But in one of the deleted emails, he wrote to Mizeur to say he was sore after spending most of the day on a 10-foot ladder using a fire ax to chop ice over the front porch of his house.

The judge also disbelieved Hausman’s claims that he did not delete the emails to thwart Holland America’s defense, but simply as part of his routine practice of clearing out his inbox. The actions were deliberate and “substantially interfered with defendants’ ability to fully and fairly prepare for and proceed to trial,” Rothstein said.

Hausman portrayed Mizeur during the hearing as a disgruntled former employee who had been fired for forging a check. But the judge accepted Mizeur’s explanation for why she signed his name to the check – that he had given her permission to do so. Hausman also claimed Mizeur had tried to extort him; she testified that she was simply shocked about having been accused of forgery and fired when she sent him a message suggesting that she would ruin his life if he didn’t pay her off.

One of Hausman’s attorneys, Richard Friedman, called the decision “frustrating and disappointing” but said it cannot be appealed.

“I’ve done a lot of retrials in my time, and often the verdict the second time around is bigger than the first,” he said. He added that Rothstein’s ruling “doesn’t address Holland America’s conduct that caused the injuries in the first place or the extent of his injuries.” In an emailed statement Tuesday, the company said it was pleased with Rothstein’s order to vacate the previous judgment and grant a new trial.

“We look forward to the opportunity to present our case, including the most recent evidence on which this ruling was based,” Holland America said.

The lawsuit states that on Sept. 22, 2014, Thomas Charles “TC” Smith Jr. was using a Genie Personal Lift machine – provided by the university – to reach lights and speakers high above a stage. The lift tipped over, causing him to fall to the gym floor and hit his head, according to the suit filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Smith died in hospice more than three months later, according to The Oregonian.

The suit faults the university for allegedly keeping the 30-year-old lift in poor repair, providing it to be used without outrigger supports to prevent tipping, and allowing Smith to use it without proper training. The suit also faults defendant Genie Industries, the Washington company that manufactured the lift, for its design.

Both a university spokeswoman and a Genie Industries spokeswoman said Monday that they could not comment on pending litigation.

The university hired Smith’s company, ShowDrape, to prepare the gym for the inauguration of the new university president, Mark Poorman, according to the suit. Smith was co-owner of ShowDrape.

The lawsuit seeks $2.5 million for Smith’s pain and suffering before his death, $846,600 in medical expenses, and millions more for his family’s loss of society, companionship and services. Smith is survived by his wife, three adult children and his mother.

According to the Claims Journal lawsuit, filed in 2013, also names the exchange agency and host family, contending gross negligence. The plaintiffs are his mother, Patricia Birkhold-Waschle, his father, Raimund Waschle, and his brother, Philip Waschle.

The lawsuit said Niclas Waschle was skiing alone on the edge of a groomed trail on Dec. 29, 2010, when he fell headfirst into a tree well and suffocated. The family is seeking damages and compensation, plus medical expenses.

The suit alleged that the resort provided no warnings about the dangers of tree wells – hollow areas that can form around the base of trees surrounded by deep snow. Whitefish Mountain Resort, owned by Winter Sports Inc., argued that Waschle was skiing beyond his abilities and that tree wells are an inherent danger of skiing.

According to the lawsuit, the teen was skiing near the T-bar 2 ski lift when he fell into a hidden tree well, which can be difficult to escape. The lawsuit said the tree well was along the edge of the groomed trail close to where skiers dismount from the ski lift.

Two other skiers found Niclas Waschle at about 11 a.m. when they spotted his skis sticking out of the snow. He was unconscious and died three days later after being declared brain dead. His family removed him from life support.

The family contends that the area where Niclas Waschle fell wasn’t blocked off, and had no warnings about possible dangers. The lawsuit also notes the death of a 29-year-old snowboarder 10 days later in a nearby tree well.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in November ruled against the resort’s request to resolve the suit without a trial. Molloy ruled tree wells are not included in the definition of “inherent dangers and risks” in Montana’s Skier Responsibility statutes that were in effect at the time of the December 2010 accident.

Whether the resort “should have exercised greater care in warning of tree wells or reducing the risk, and whether Niclas should have been aware of the condition that caused his death and exercised greater care to avoid it, are issues for the finder of fact to resolve,” Molloy wrote in court papers.

The lawsuit contends the exchange program and the Vanhorns were negligent “in safeguarding Niclas by exposing Niclas to unnecessary and unreasonably risky behavior such as permitting him to ski in inclement weather alone.” The lawsuit said that Fred Vanhorn, a ski instructor at the resort, should have known about the dangers of skiing alone.

A trial date has not been scheduled because the Waschles are appealing an order that dismissed the boy’s host family from the lawsuit.

The state added tree wells to its Montana Skier Responsibility statutes earlier this year.