If you or a loved one have been injured due a button battery, you may be entitled to compensation from the maker and seller of the button battery and the device that came with the battery.
Ever year, more than 2,800 kids in the U.S. are treated in hospitals after ingesting button batteries. Button batteries are small batteries frequently found in small electronics, such as greeting cards, toys, flashlights, etc. Unfortunately, button batteries are extremely toxic for young children and can cause serious injury or death. In Oklahoma, a young girl died from ingesting a battery in 2015.
Carr and Carr has successfully litigated cases involving the ingestion of button batteries by a child, resulting in either the death of the child or a serious injury. We have the knowledge and experience in this narrow field of product liability to help you and your family hold the wrongdoer accountable and bring compensation and a sense of closure to you and your family.
Typically, the most dangerous type of ingestion occurs when the button battery becomes stuck in the child’s esophagus or stomach. The problem with these batteries is that the batteries can create an electric current when it comes into contact with things such as water, saliva or other bodily fluids. When such an event occurs, an electrical current is created which produces a chemical called “hydroxide”. This chemical can damage tissue in as little as two hours. Further compounding the problem is when the button battery gets stuck in the esophagus or sits in the stomach. When this happen, the leaking goes on indefinitely while burning the tissues of the stomach and esophagus.
This picture shows what happens when a button battery stays in contact with a piece of sausage for 2 hours and 45 minutes. As you can see, the battery burns away at the sausage, leaving a deep burn. This is the same process that occurs when the battery becomes lodged inside the child’s body.
Often, responsibility lies on the manufacturer of the product for making an unsafe battery and on the seller for selling an unsafe product and failing to warn the consumer of the battery button’s danger. Many times, the product that contains the battery does not properly warn the consumer that the product contains a deadly battery that can be easily swallowed. Further, some products make it too easy for a child to access the button battery.
Lastly, the battery button itself may be defective because it does not contain a proper coating that could prevent the leaking of battery fluid into the child. In fact, in 2014, researches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a new way to coat button batteries that prevent the batteries from leaking dangerous chemicals.
There has been an increase in the amount of lawsuits filed against the makers and sellers of these button batteries as more children are becoming injured and\or killed everyday from these products. There has also been an increase in the amount of lawsuits filed against these businesses as the evidence of a safer alternative has become clearer.
If you or a loved one have been injured by a button battery, you may have a case against the manufacturer and\or seller of the product and battery. Our lawyers have experiencing pursuing cases against the makers and sellers of dangerous products. Pursuing a case against the manufacturer and seller will not only help compensate you for your loss but will also help encourage the manufacturer and seller to create safer products. We help people around the United States so please contact Carr and Carr Attorneys today to see if we can help. Also, be sure to preserve any evidence of the product so our lawyers can have the evidence examined.
