Amazon can be sued over suicides linked to sodium nitrite, Washington Supreme Court rules
By Jonathan Stempel
February 19 (Reuters) – The Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday that Amazon.com must sue families who lost relatives who died by suicide after consuming sodium nitrite purchased from outside sellers on the retailer’s website.
All nine justices rejected a mid-level appeals court’s ruling that families could not sue Amazon for negligence because suicide was the primary cause of their relatives’ deaths.
Judge G. Helen Whitener wrote that Amazon owes its customers a duty of reasonable care and must avoid subjecting them to “harm resulting from the foreseeable conduct of a third party.”
He said a jury would have to decide whether the suicide was a foreseeable consequence of the Seattle-based retailer’s alleged failure to fulfill its duty.
AMAZON DEFENDS ITS SECURITY COMMITMENT
Twenty-eight families filed a lawsuit alleging that Amazon knew for years about the connection between sodium nitrite and suicide, but continued to allow unlimited sales along with other products that could aid suicides. They collectively labeled these products as “suicide kits.”
The families are seeking unspecified damages from Amazon under Washington state product liability law for the deaths of their relatives.
Thursday’s ruling covered appeals by four families who said they lost relatives ages 17 to 27 who consumed 98% or 99.6% pure sodium nitrite in 2020 and 2021.
Amazon said it disagreed with the decision and was committed to ensuring the safety of all its customers. He expressed his condolences to the families affected by the suicide.
SODIUM NITRITE IS USED AS A FOOD PRESERVATIVE
The case is one of many that seek to hold online selling platforms like Amazon responsible for products sold by third-party sellers.
“Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world, and they shouldn’t be profiting from products that they know people are using to harm themselves,” Carrie Goldberg, the families’ attorney, said in an interview.
Sodium nitrite is a legal chemical often used as a preservative in foods such as meat and fish. It can also be used in research laboratories and in the treatment of cyanide poisoning.
Amazon said in a statement that the highly concentrated sodium nitrite “is not intended for direct consumption and unfortunately, like many products, it can be misused.”
Amazon said it now bans the sale of sodium nitrite with purity above 10%.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
