A Las Vegas family filed a lawsuit against the local company that bottled Real Water on Tuesday, the same day that the Food and Drug Administration announced an investigation into a possible product-related hepatitis outbreak.
The FDA was warned last week of five cases of acute non-viral hepatitis, which causes liver failure, in babies and children beginning in November, according to the agency’s announcement. Six more people, including three children, reported less severe symptoms, such as vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite and fatigue.
“To date, consumption of alkaline water from the ‘Real Water’ brand has been considered the only common link identified among all cases,” said a press release from the Southern Nevada Health District.
On Tuesday afternoon, three members of the Wren family, who had the water delivered to their home, filed a civil lawsuit in Clark County.
At the end of last year, parents Emely and Christopher Brian Wren and their 2-year-old son, Christopher Noah, suffered health complications after drinking the water. The couple’s daughter avoided drinking the water and did not fall ill, according to lawyer Will Kemp, who represents the family.
In November, the boy was flown on an emergency jet to the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City after doctors at Summerlin Children’s Hospital noticed signs of liver malfunction, the lawsuit said. The child was treated and discharged from the hospital.
At the same time, Emely Wren suffered from extreme nausea and fatigue, according to the lawsuit.
The boy’s father was hospitalized for several days in Las Vegas after showing extremely high levels of alanine transaminase, or ALT, an enzyme found in the liver that is released into the bloodstream after the liver is damaged.
According to the lawsuit, Christopher Brian Wren was interviewed by an investigator from the Southern Nevada Health District and was informed that Real Water was considered to be the cause of his liver damage.
The company behind Real Water, Affinitylifestyles.com Inc., has been based in Las Vegas since 1998. Its blue-colored bottles advertise the product as “alkaline water with negative ions” and “the healthiest drinking water available”.
Company officials could not be reached for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
The lawsuit alleges that the labeling of the water bottles was “false and / or misleading” and that the Wrens bought them because “they believed they did not contain high levels of toxins”.
“The defendants’ bottled water was defective and excessively dangerous, as the Defendants did not provide warnings about the high levels of toxins in their products,” the document said.
The lawsuit also alleged breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, negligence and violation of Nevada’s deceptive commercial practices law.
Contact David Ferrara at [email protected] or 702-380-1039. follow @randompoker on twitter.