A United States judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against e-commerce giant Amazon by the parents of two teenagers who committed suicide by consuming sodium nitrite purchased on the company’s website, Reuters reported.
Seattle District Judge James Robart dismissed complaints filed by the parents of Ethan McCarthy and Christine Jonsson, who claimed Amazon was liable for negligence and violations of product liability laws in Washington state.
The parents sought undisclosed damages from the company, saying it allowed an outside trader to sell 99.6% pure sodium nitrite on its platform.
Lawyers for the parents called the products “suicide kits”, saying the salt was known to be used in suicide cases.
US police found Jonsson, 16, of Gilliard, Ohio, dead in her mother’s car in September 2020, and McCarthy, 17, died the following January in his bed in Milton, West Virginia.
How the judge in the case explains the dismissal of charges against Amazon
In a 34-page ruling, Judge Robart said the product’s label identified the dangers of the substance, which is also used in the food industry to process meat.
He said Amazon had no obligation to provide additional warnings, adding that in this case they would not have prevented the death anyway. He also noted that Washington state law protects merchants from negligence charges in such cases.
“It cannot be denied that the fate of Christine and Ethan was tragic, but the court can only conclude that they were aware of the danger of bodily harm and death associated with the ingestion of sodium nitrite,” the judge wrote in his reasoning.
Kerry Godlberg, one of the parents’ attorneys, said in a press release that Wednesday’s decision was a “setback” but that it was “by no means the end of the road.”
“Sodium nitrite is not used in the home, and no consumer, let alone children, could reasonably know how deadly it is,” she added, adding that “it is illegal in Washington State to help someone commit suicide, and Amazon did just that “.
The decision can be appealed.
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Source: Hot News
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