Youth Poisoning Protection Act introduced: C.A. Goldberg, PLLC cases spur bipartisan ban on sodium nitrite
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts or feeling at risk of suicide, it’s very important to reach out to someone immediately. In the USA call 988 for 24/7, free, and confidential support. Help is available right now: find resources here, including an interactive tool to help you find the support that is right for you. If you are in immediate danger or think someone is at risk of harm, contact your local emergency services.
Today, lawmakers introduced the Youth Poisoning Protection Act, bipartisan and bicameral legislation that would ban the consumer sale of products containing high concentrations of sodium nitrite, a chemical that is lethal when ingested.
Carrie Goldberg and Naomi Leeds, of C.A. Goldberg, PLLC, who represent families across the United States whose children died from purchasing sodium nitrite on Amazon, expressed relief that the legislation they proposed is finally progressing and regret that it was spurred by so many preventable and senseless tragedies:
“Over two years ago we first started urging an online retailer to stop selling industrial grade sodium nitrite to households, informing them that it was touted on suicide message boards and had killed our clients’ children. The retailer said even if it was used for suicide, it had no responsibility to stop selling it because it’s a “legal” product. So they kept selling it, delivering it to homes even though it has no household use, and killing more teens and vulnerable adults. Most consumers do not realize how deadly a small quantity of this product is, how excruciating it is to ingest, or how unlikely survival is even if you throw it up or call 911. On behalf of the dozens of heartbroken families we’re working with, we express regret this bill couldn’t save their loved ones and gratitude for the lives the Youth Poisoning Protection Act will spare.”
Ruth Scott of Schertz Texas, mother of Mikael Scott, was the first person to blow the whistle in court on online retailers for knowingly selling sodium nitrite. Ruth said:
“The road to this bill has been filled with tragedy, loss and sorrow. This law will serve as a beacon to all retailers making industrial grade sodium nitrite illegal to sell to the general public. Every innocent life that was lost through the unconscionable sale and doorstep delivery of sodium nitrite is on notice. No mother should have to mourn the loss of her only son.”
The Youth Poisoning Protection Act bans the sale of consumer products with a concentration of sodium nitrite greater than 10 percent. A copy of the bipartisan legislation introduced today can be accessed HERE.
C.A. Goldberg, PLLC cases spur sodium nitrite laws across the country
On Monday, the California Legislature, led by CA Assembly Members Damon Connolly and Ash Kalra, progressed a strong criminal bill outlawing the sale of deadly sodium nitrite to minors, requiring age verification for purchase, and ordering warning labels. Assembly Bill (AB) 1109 and Assembly Bill (AB) 1210 were passed successfully out of the Senate Business Professions and Economic Development Committee with bipartisan support. These bills address the escalating teen suicides linked to the dangerous chemical sodium nitrite. AB1109 would prohibit sales of sodium nitrite to minors and prohibit the sale of sodium nitrite in concentrations greater than 10% to a person over 18. AB 1210 requires online marketplaces to use warning labels describing the fatal repercussions of ingesting the chemical and recommend the proper treatment if the product is consumed. AB 1109 will require retailers and online marketplaces to implement age verification systems – sellers cannot just have a teen click a box to say they’re 18+ – we are confident that this would serve to create a higher barrier to access of this deadly compound for both vulnerable kids and adults.
Why do we need laws banning sodium nitrite?
Some online retailers haven’t taken reports of sodium nitrite suicides seriously. Amazon is the number one vendor of sodium nitrite for death by suicide, even trace amounts of sodium nitrite can cause excruciating death in twenty minutes. Since at least 2018, Amazon has received notifications from grieving relatives and toxicologists that its sodium nitrite killed their family members. Even the FDA notified Amazon that the sodium nitrite it was selling caused suicides. But they kept marketing, selling and delivering it to homes. They even bundled it with other products – recommending it be purchased with an anti-emetic to prevent vomiting, a small scale to get the dosage right and a suicide manual that had a whole chapter on how to die from sodium nitrite.
In February 2021, C.A. Goldberg, PLLC was introduced to Ruth Scott, mother of Mikael Scott who tragically died from sodium nitrite at age 27. In April, on behalf of Ruth, we notified Amazon that it was selling a product touted on suicide message boards as a quick, easy, and cheap way to die. Instead of removing it from their shelf, Amazon doubled down, hiring lawyers who said they had no duty to stop selling sodium nitrite. C.A. Goldberg, PLLC’s cases against Amazon for selling sodium nitrite brought this issue to the attention of lawmakers. The problem went under-detected and unheard by medical experts and coroners. Online retailers were aware but didn’t care. The issue was finally exposed through our innovative litigation that caused a groundswell of support for regulating this chemical that is just as just as deadly and easily used for murder and suicide as Cyanide but was – for some unfathomable reason – sold to children by a major retailer.
C.A. Goldberg, PLLC client Cindy Cruz, the mother of Tyler Muhleman, a teenager from San Jose who tragically took his own life using sodium nitrite this week explained to California lawmakers: “On May 25, 2021, my 17-year-old son, Tyler, took his life by ingesting sodium nitrite, which he purchased without my knowledge by creating his own account on Amazon. How can a potentially lethal substance be sold to anyone, much less minors? It’s difficult to comprehend how sodium nitrite is so easily accessible to minors-more accessible than cigarettes or alcohol. I miss my son. I miss his gentle nature, his kindness, compassion, and empathy. As Tyler’s mother, I feel it is my duty to share my story so we can work on getting these laws passed.”
C.A. Goldberg, PLLC founder Carrie Goldberg also testified that, “At this point, we have heard from over 60 families and filed lawsuits for six families whose children died from ingesting sodium nitrite. In most cases, the person regretted it, made themselves vomit, or called 9-1-1. Except for one case, nobody could be saved – sodium nitrite is too deadly.” According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, suicide was the second leading cause of death among 10 to 14-year-olds and third among those 15 to 24. This disturbing rise in youth suicides coincides with America’s worsening mental health crisis, which disproportionately affects young people.
Progress in C.A. Goldberg, PLLC’s cases against Amazon.com for selling sodium nitrite
These new laws come on the heels of a win for C.A. Goldberg, PLLC last Friday, when attorneys won a motion to dismiss on its lawsuit against Amazon. Here, C.A. Goldberg, PLLC represented the parents of an 18-year-old in Arizona and a 19-year-old in Virginia. In a June filing, C.A. Goldberg, PLLC argued that Amazon had a duty not to sell products that weren’t reasonably safe and did not have warnings or labelling (reports detail that online algorithms also recommended customers who purchased the chemical also buy a scale to measure the correct dose, an anti-vomiting drug that would ensure the poisoning be fatal, and even a handbook on assisted suicide, as well as deleting one-star product reviews warning that sodium nitrite could be used to kill, and promoting the product to customers). “Even after parents and regulators warned Amazon that Sodium Nitrite had no household use, Amazon continued to sell it to households, for under twenty dollars with fast delivery,” the filing stated. Carrie Goldberg, told Law360 that Judge Sutton’s order is a victory that comes at a great cost, “we have a long road ahead in this litigation, and our clients go to sleep every night without their son and daughter.”
If you have been affected by Amazon’s sale of suicide products and would like to explore your options, you can get in touch here.
Media contact: caroline@cagoldberglaw.com
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts or feeling at risk of suicide, it’s very important to reach out to someone immediately. In the USA call 988 for 24/7, free, and confidential support. Help is available right now: find resources here, including an interactive tool to help you find the support that is right for you. If you are in immediate danger or think someone is at risk of harm, contact your local emergency services.
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