Four New Jersey residents — including two teenagers — who suffered third-degree burns when their e-cigarette batteries ignited “like a rocket” are suing the shops that sold the “defective” devices, their attorneys announced Thursday.
The manufacturers of the lithium ion batteries that power the vaping devices are also the targets of the litigation, although the attorneys acknowledged it would be tougher to hold them accountable. The batteries are made in China.
But with the burgeoning $10 billion e-cigarette industry operating without meaningful oversight yet by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, going after the retailers is the only way to draw attention to these dangerous devices, said Gregory Bentley, an Irvine, Calif. attorney who is teaming up with the personal injury firm Stark & Stark in Lawrenceville.
The lawsuit alleges the manufacturers, the
