Mother of 18-year-old who died in his sleep after becoming 'addicted to vaping' files first wrongful death lawsuit against Juul
Juul was slammed with its first wrongful death lawsuit on Tuesday after a Florida woman filed the suit blaming the American vaping company for her 18-year-old son's death. In the lawsuit, Lisa Vail has alleged that her son Daniel Wakefield became addicted to his Juul vaping device when he was 15 years old. He was addicted to such an extent that he would "suffer from major mood swings if he did not have access" to his vape, the suit alleges.
Vail's suit reads, "Plaintiff recalled an instance where Wakefield became enraged and threw a mini-refrigerator from the top floor of his home because he was angry about not being able to vape".
Within less than a year of starting to vape, Daniel had to be hospitalized three times due to breathing and lung complications. As per the suit, the hospital had to give him nicotine patches as he was "so addicted to Juul."
Daniel was found dead in his sleep on August 31 last year when his father had gotten up to get some water at around 4 am.
The suit read, "He noticed Wakefield looked funny; he touched his son and found him stiff and unresponsive". On the night before his death, Vail had spoken to her son and he had shown no signs of any wheezing or breathing difficulty. "His death was attributed to breathing complications," the suit added.
The lawsuit follows a rise in vape related deaths across the country. Federal prosecutors are now investigating the epidemic. Juul is also facing other lawsuits by young adults and parents of teenagers who say that the vaping company markets its harmful products to children. Many states such as Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island have restricted the sale of e-cigarettes.
According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 people have died from vape related illnesses in 21 states.