E-cigarette explodes, rips away chunk of Cordova man's face, breaks some teeth, lawsuit says


Twenty-five-year-old David Bishop of Cordova was at home one morning last year when he decided to use an cheap vape deals before going to work. He placed the device to his lips and pressed a button to start vaping.Suddenly, a lithium battery inside the device exploded, a lawsuit alleges. The blast blew pieces of the e-cigarette into the man's face, breaking several teeth.

And the blast ripped away a chunk of flesh, from his upper lip through his lower left cheek, the legal filing says.The explosion also splashed Bishop with battery acid, causing chemical or heat burns to his left hand, face, mouth and tongue, the suit alleges.

The explosion that morning on May 31 was so violent that one piece of the vaping device flew into the air and left burn marks on the ceiling and wall before the piece finally landed on top of a cabinet, the lawsuit says.Bishop required 65 stitches in his face and missed weeks from his job as a warehouse maintenance worker, his legal team says.

Bishop has filed suit against three companies involved in selling the e-cigarette and the two lithium batteries that powered it. The suit was originally filed in state court in October and transferred to federal court in February.Companies involved in the case have denied wrongdoing. A jury trial could take place next year.

The situation illustrates the fire and explosion dangers that accompany the use of the increasingly popular e-cigarette devices. An e-cigarette or vape pen is a device that uses a battery to heat up a liquid that contains nicotine. The heat creates an inhalable vapor, and the practice is also called vaping.


The devices were introduced to the U.S. market around 2007 and since 2014 have been the most popular tobacco product among U.S. youth, according to a surgeon general's report.Unlike other devices that use potentially explosive lithium batteries, e-cigarettes are put in people's mouths and held close to their faces."It's the prevalence and the intimacy of these devices," said David Hill, a lawyer for the Cordova man. "And if they are going to be so intimately used, they should be safe." u2022eney7485yyWEEEEDD