On May 24, 2020, Aromatics International issued a recall for their essential oil product – specifically, the Aromatics International Wintergreen Essential Oil. According to the recall, number 20-742, the essential oils are not packaged in child-resistant packaging, as required by the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA). Therefore, the product represents a risk of poisoning, given that young children can access and ingest the substance. The recall has affected approximately 500 products.
The recalled essential oils were available in 5 mL, 15 mL, 30 mL, and 100 mL glass amber bottles; the bottle caps are black and have a continuous thread. The affected bottles have a white label with the company’s green logo on the front. The 5 mL product is associated with UPC 817697021443, and the 15 mL product is associated with UPC number 817697021375; the UPC number is located along the bar code. The affected products are associated with batch numbers WIN-104 and WIN-105 – which can be found listed on a dot sticker on the cap of the products.
The recalled essential oils were available online via Aromatics.com from March 2018 through July 2019; the essential oils were sold for prices ranging from $9 to $66. According to the company, no incidents or injuries have been reported associated with the recalled essential oils. The company is urging consumers to immediately store the product out of the reach of children and contact them immediately for a free replacement cap that meets child-resistant requirements. All known purchasers are being contacted directly by the company.
Have you and your family been affected by the recall? Did your child suffer harm as a direct result of the defective product? If your child gained access to the essential oils, ingested the substance, and suffered poisoning, you should consider taking legal action against the company that negligently made the defective product available for purchase. More specifically, you should consider the possibility of pursuing a product liability claim.
Based on the details surrounding the incident, you might have grounds to file a product liability claim against Aromatics International for the poisoning that your child suffered due to their defective product. If you would like to learn more about your right to sue a negligent company for the harm that your child suffered, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at Normandie Law Firm as soon as possible.
Normandie Law Firm is a personal injury law firm with many years of experience handling all sorts of claims – including product liability claims arising from harm resulting from defective products. If you would like to learn more about your right to file a product liability claim for the harm that your child suffered associated with a defective product, you can trust the experts at our firm to provide you with the guidance that you need to hold the negligent company accountable for the harm that your child suffered. Our product liability lawyers are ready to evaluate your claim and provide you with guidance that you need to reach a successful claim outcome and recover the compensation that you deserve.
If you would like to discuss the possibility of pursuing a product liability claim with the experts at our firm, do not hesitate to contact our firm today.
Understanding the Risk of Poisoning to Young Children
Methyl salicylate, the substance found in wintergreen essential oils, is toxic when ingested in large quantities. Methyl salicylate poisoning can cause a number of symptoms, including the following:
- Coma
- Deafness
- Dizziness
- Drowsiness
- Eye irritation (including burning, redness, light sensitivity, etc.)
- Fever
- Hallucinations, confusion, and agitation
- Headaches
- Kidney failure (no urine output or decreased urine output)
- Loss of vision (usually associated with corneal ulcers)
- Low blood pressure (and, possibly, collapse)
- Respiratory issues (including no breaching, difficulty breathing, and fast breathing)
- Seizures
- Stomach and intestinal issues (including nausea and vomiting)
- Throat swelling
- Tinnitus
If quickly caught and treated, methyl salicylate poisoning can be addressed and affected children could recover with little to no harm suffered. However, when treatment is delayed or when the amount ingested is simply too large, the poisoning can be fatal.
Because methyl salicylate can be dangerous if ingested, it must be packaged in child-resistant packaging. This is based on the PPPA. The PPPA requires all dangerous substances to be packaged in child-resistant packaging to reduce the risk to children. Unfortunately, because the Aromatics International essential oils violate the PPPA, these products represent a significant risk to children. If your child gained access to the recalled essential oil, ingested it, and suffered methyl salicylate poisoning, you might be able to hold the company accountable for the harm that your child suffered accountable.
Product Liability and Your Right to Sue
Specifically, you might have grounds to sue based on the concept of product liability. Based on product liability, all companies owe their consumers a duty of care – that is, a duty to ensure that their products are safe for their consumers to use. Companies must test and inspect their products to be able to identify and address any hazards present in their products, such as the lack of a child-resistant cap in violation of the PPPA. Instead of exercising their duty of care and identifying/addressing the hazards present in their products, many companies breach their duty of care and fail to ensure that their products are safe for consumers to use. When companies breach their duty of care, they put their consumers at risk of suffering harm. Because companies owe their consumers a duty of care, whenever consumers suffer harm as a direct result of a breached duty of care (i.e. a defective product), companies could be held accountable. Based on product liability, affected consumers have the right to sue – specifically, they have the right to file product liability claims against the at-fault companies.
Would you like to learn more about your right to pursue a product liability claim for the harm that your child suffered due to a defective product, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the product liability experts at our firm immediately.
Recovering Compensation
Based on the details surrounding your product liability claim, you might have grounds to recover monetary compensation for the harm that your child suffers (if your claim reaches a successful outcome). Although receiving compensation cannot reverse the harm that your child suffered, it can help you and your family move forward from such a traumatic event. Could you really be eligible to recover compensation? The type and amount of compensation that you could recover will always be based on the details surrounding your claim, but could include some of the following categories:
- Medical expenses
- Lost earnings
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Funeral and burial costs
- Punitive damage
If you would like to learn more about the type and amount of compensation that you could be eligible to recover if your product liability claim against Aromatics Internationals reaches a successful claim outcome, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the product liability experts at our firm at your earliest convenience. The product liability lawyers at our firm will aggressively fight for your right to recover the highest amount of compensation available for your claim.
What Should Consumers Do?
If your child suffered methyl salicylate poisoning associated with the recalled Aromatics International essential oils, there are many things that you should do – to essentially prepare to pursue a claim against the negligent company. What should you do? Consider some of the following recommendations:
- Take photos of your child (your child might look ill even without physical injuries)
- Take photos of the scene of the incident (before any cleanup)
- Take photos of the defective product
- Store the product out of the reach of children
- Seek medical care for your child immediately
- Contact the company to report the incident as well as the harm suffered
- Do not agree to a free repair, a free replacement, or a refund
- Do not agree to returning the defective product to the company (the defective product will be the primary piece of evidence)
- Speak to any witnesses that might have captured the incident
- Gather any home surveillance footage that might have captured the incident
- Collect all relevant records, including medical records, death records (if applicable), and purchase records associated with the defective product
- Seek legal assistance as soon as possible
If you would like to learn more about the steps that you should take after your child suffered harm associated with the defective product, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm immediately. Our product liability lawyers are ready to guide you every step of the way.
Is there a Class Action Lawsuit?
Can I file a class action lawsuit? How can I join or be a part of a class action lawsuit on this case? If the defective product harmed many parties, then it is likely that there is a class action claim in which you could participate. A class action lawyer can help you figure out how to join the specific class action lawsuit. In some cases, there might be mass torts rather than a class action lawsuit – mass torts are single claims against the same company. For more information about how to proceed with your claim, do not hesitate to contact our recall lawyers as soon as possible.
File Your Claim Quickly
All claims are subject to a statute of limitations. The statute of limitations determines the specific length of time that claimants have to pursue their claims. If claimants fail to file their claims within the statute of time allowed by the statute of limitations, they can lose their right to sue entirely. How long do you have to apply to your claim? What statute of limitations applies to your claim? In California, product liability claims are normally subject to a two-year statute of limitations. This means that claimants only have two years to file their claims. As explained above, if you fail to file your claim on time, you could lose your right to sue. However, it is important that consumers know that exceptions to the statute of limitations could apply – especially if the victim is a child. In claims involving children, the statute of limitations could be tolled until the victim reaches an adult age and files his or her claim independently. For more information about the statute of limitations that applies to your claim, contact our firm as soon as possible.
Contact Normandie Law Firm Today
Normandie Law Firm is a personal injury law firm with many years of experience handling all sorts of claims, including product liability claims. Our lawyers are ready to evaluate your claim and help you hold the negligent company accountable for the harm that your child suffered. At our firm, we are dedicated to remaining accessible to all affected consumers. We offer free legal services, which include free consultations and free second opinions. During these free legal services, our product liability lawyers will be available to answer all your questions and address all your concerns. Our product liability lawyers will essentially be available to provide you with all the information that you might need to pursue your product liability claim against Aromatics International.
Our firm also offers a Zero-Fee guarantee, which ensures that our clients will not be required to pay anything for any of our legal services. Our firm is also based on contingency; therefore, our clients will not be required to pay anything until after reaching a successful claim outcome. If you do not win, you will not have to pay anything for any of our legal services.
If you would like to learn more about your right to pursue a product liability claim against Aromatics International or any other negligent company, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm today.
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