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A jury this week awarded $228.5 million to seven plaintiffs in their case against Nevada-based water company Real Water, which sold alkaline water tainted with hydrazine, a highly toxic chemical found in fuel for rockets and spacecraft.
The plaintiffs included a 7-month-old boy who was hospitalized with severe liver failure and nearly needed a liver transplant. Another was a 69-year-old woman who was hospitalized for liver failure after drinking the water for years. She died in the hospital on November 11, 2020.
They are among around a hundred people who say they have suffered acute liver toxicity and failure from the water and have filed lawsuits against Real Water, according to attorney Will Kemp. In an interview Friday, Kemp told Ars he represents a little over 60 of the plaintiffs, including the seven in the case that received a jury verdict this week. It was the first case to go to trial.
Jurors for the case in the 8th Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada, found Real Water liable for $200 million in punitive damages and $28.5 million in compensatory damages. Two other defendants, Hanna Instruments and Milwaukee Instruments, which were alleged to have made faulty water testing meters that contributed to Real Water's toxicity, were also found liable for compensatory damages but not punitive damages.
"We're hoping that the punitive award sends a message to people that they should test bottled water products before they put them on the market," Kemp told Ars.
arstechnica.com
The plaintiffs included a 7-month-old boy who was hospitalized with severe liver failure and nearly needed a liver transplant. Another was a 69-year-old woman who was hospitalized for liver failure after drinking the water for years. She died in the hospital on November 11, 2020.
They are among around a hundred people who say they have suffered acute liver toxicity and failure from the water and have filed lawsuits against Real Water, according to attorney Will Kemp. In an interview Friday, Kemp told Ars he represents a little over 60 of the plaintiffs, including the seven in the case that received a jury verdict this week. It was the first case to go to trial.
Jurors for the case in the 8th Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada, found Real Water liable for $200 million in punitive damages and $28.5 million in compensatory damages. Two other defendants, Hanna Instruments and Milwaukee Instruments, which were alleged to have made faulty water testing meters that contributed to Real Water's toxicity, were also found liable for compensatory damages but not punitive damages.
"We're hoping that the punitive award sends a message to people that they should test bottled water products before they put them on the market," Kemp told Ars.
“Real Water” that poisoned dozens contained chemical from rocket fuel
An expert witness testified hydrazine was likely formed during an electrolysis process.
