Filing A Laundry Pod Lawsuit Or Detergent Pod Lawsuit

Wright & Schulte LLC is currently representing victims who have suffered liquid laundry pod injuries. If your child has suffered laundry detergent pod poisoning after ingesting a packet, contact our law firm for a free laundry pod lawsuit legal consultation by calling 1-800-399-0795 or you can visit yourlegalhelp.com for more information.

Laundry Detergent Pod Litigation

Individual lawsuits are being filed across the country by parents whose children have suffered liquid detergent pod injuries. For instance, one lawsuit was filed in November 2014 against Proctor & Gamble on behalf of 13 infants and toddlers in 12 states who either ingested or popped Tide Pods into their mouths and suffered injuries between January 2013 and June 2014. The children ranged in age from 20 months to 5 years old. (Case No. A14068580, Court of Common Pleas in Hamilton County, Ohio)

Adults are also filing lawsuits after suffering chemical burns from opening the packets. A lawsuit was filed against Proctor & Gamble in December 2014 on behalf of a Pennsylvania woman who alleges that she was attempting to separate Tide Pods that were stuck together in the container when the “pods ruptured and discharged the liquid contents contained therein, in a jet stream, as if fired in a squirt gun.” The laundry detergent pod litigation said the liquid struck the plaintiff and caused a chemical burn. (Case No. 5:14-cv-07220, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania)

Liquid Laundry Pod Injuries

Single-load laundry detergent pods were introduced to the U.S. market in 2010. Detergent in the brightly colored packets, sold under such names as Tide Pods, Purex Ultra Packs and All Mighty Pacs, is released when it mixes with liquids, which is why infants and toddlers are poisoned because their saliva mixes with the detergent’s chemicals. In May 2012, the U.S. Centers for Disease Controls (CDC) and the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) began tracking laundry detergent pod poisoning due to the increasing number of reports of children 5 and under becoming ill after ingesting the packets. Children who ingested the pods were hospitalized due to:

• Loss of consciousness
• Excessive vomiting
• Drowsiness
• Throat swelling
• Difficulty breathing (requiring intubation)
• Severe eye irritation
• Temporary loss of vision due to ocular burns

According to the AAPCC, children who suffered laundry detergent pod poisoning either swallowed the packet, bit into a pack and swallowed a mouthful or bit into a packet and breathed the product into their lungs and rapidly developed symptoms that required hospitalization.[CDC, October 19, 2012] [AAPCC, May 17, 2012] [CPSC]

Laundry Detergent Pod Study

A nationwide study, published in the December 2014 issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, found 17,230 children under 6 were exposed to laundry detergent pods from 2012 to 2013, and children under 3 accounted for nearly 74 percent of the cases reported. The most common exposure was through ingestion, the study said. There was one report of a child’s death. The study further found that laundry detergent pod exposure increased by 645 percent from March 2012 to April 2013, then dropped by 25 percent from April to December 2013. According to the report, the most common side-effects displayed by children exposed to the pods were drowsiness or lethargy, vomiting, choking, eye pain or irritation and conjunctivitis (red eye). The study concluded that increased efforts are needed, such as improving packaging and labeling of the products, to prevent exposure of young children to laundry detergent pods.[AAPPublications, December 1, 2014]

Changes To Laundry Detergent Pod Packaging

Shortly after the call was made for manufacturers to redesign their packaging, Proctor & Gamble changed its Tide Pods packaging in 2012 to make it harder for young children to open. The following year, Proctor & Gamble replaced its Tide Pods clear plastic bags and tubs with opaque plastic, making it more difficult for children to see the colors. In addition, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) announced in November 2014 that its organization, which includes detergent manufacturers, were addressing the laundry detergent pod dangers.[Learning Institute, November 10, 2014] [AAPCC, July 12, 2013]

Wright & Schulte LLC is offering free, no-obligation laundry detergent pod lawsuit reviews to victims who allegedly suffered serious injuries from the packets. To learn more, or to arrange for a free legal consultation with an attorney at Wright & Schulte LLC, please visit yourlegalhelp.com.