New York Personal Injury Attorneys

Injuries Linked to Detergent Pod's

Detergent Pod Injuries occur from laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent pods. Which have become an increasingly popular way for people to clean their laundry and dishes. Each pod already comes in the correct, suggested measurement and companies laud the ease of use with less mess. Unfortunately there has been a dramatic increase in dangerous interactions between these detergent pods and children. A recent Network Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a peer-reviewed medical journal recently released a study entitled "Pediatric Exposures to Laundry and Dishwasher Detergents in the United States: 2013-2014." The study includes alarming statistics regarding the severe health conditions and issues children have suffered after their exposure to one of these detergent pods. The pods themselves are small, colorful, smell good and have a texture that young children seemingly find particularly fun. In the majority of incidents, children were most likely attracted to this packaging as they mistakenly thought they were toys or candy. Over 60% of the 62,000+ exposures with laundry and dishwasher detergent reported to U.S. Poison Control Centers (U.S. PCCs) in 2013-2014 involved detergent packets.

Serious clinical effects, such as coma, respiratory arrest, pulmonary edema, cardiac arrest, and death were only observed among children exposed to laundry detergent packets...

Though the industry has recognized the risk of these exposures there are still many more ways to add layers of protection. For example, in addition to child resistant containers, each packet should be further individually wrapped in a child-resistant enclosure. This would be particularly important in scenarios when a child has removed a pod when the container was momentarily left open in an easily accessible area. The industry could also adopt the proven-effective Poison Prevention Packing Act performance standard. 85% of children were exposed through ingestion and the clinical effects are devastating: hospitalization, intubation, other serious medical issues and death. A consultation with one of our compassionate and experienced personal injury attorneys is CONFIDENTIAL. There is no obligation and the advice is free. Speak with a personal injury lawyer to discuss your specific circumstances and to learn more about your legal rights.