E-cigarettes’ swift rise in popularity has led to a dramatic increase in the number of injury claims related to e-cigarette product malfunctions and, in particular, injury claims stemming from e-cigarette smoke inhalation. Since e-cigarettes are still relatively new, reliable resources about what you should do when you experience adverse effects from them are still somewhat difficult to find. If you have been injured from vaping, you need to know what your rights are and how you can protect them.
Here are a few steps you should take to increase your chances of recovering maximum compensation from all the parties who are responsible for causing your vaping injuries:
Reconstruct All of Your E-Cigarettes’ Supply Chains So You Can Identify the Potentially Responsible Parties
When you are injured by e-cigarette smoke or a vaping product’s technical malfunction, you may not have any idea where to begin in your search for the responsible parties. You should try to reconstruct the product’s supply chain to get an idea of who could potentially be responsible. Most people probably see the manufacturer as the most obvious culprit, but there are plenty of other entities who could also bear some responsibility for your injuries. This list includes the retailer who sold the product to you, the retailer’s supplier, and any other distributors, the wholesaler, the manufacturers of all the product’s components, and the entities or individuals who were the sources of the product’s ingredients.
Find a Licensed Medical Professional and Get Treatment for Your Injuries As Soon As You Can
Recovering from your injuries should be your top priority, especially if they are severe enough that they could have lasting negative effects on your health. To minimize these effects, you should find a licensed medical professional as soon as possible so you can be examined, receive a diagnosis for each of your injuries, and begin receiving treatment. Do not wait to get checked out or start getting treatment. The longer you wait to start fighting back against the effects your injuries are having on your body, the lower your chances are of making a full recovery to your pre-injury level of health. Patience is a virtue in most instances, but not when you have been injured by e-cigarette smoke or product defects. Go to your doctor’s office or a nearby hospital’s emergency department as soon as you can do so. Beginning the healing process is your first step on the path to recovery and a return to normalcy in your everyday life.
Listen to Your Doctors and Be Sure That You Comply with All of Their Reasonable Treatment Recommendations
Remember that your doctors and the other medical professionals overseeing your care only have your best interest in mind. They want you to get back to your baseline pre-injury level of health as quickly and effectively as is possible. If they recommend treatment that does not sound overly dangerous and does not raise any red flags, you should defer to them and listen to their recommendations. When in doubt, do not hesitate to get second and third opinions from different medical providers or other medical facilities. In the interest of getting yourself as healthy as possible in as short an amount of time as possible, you just need to be getting treatment somewhere. There will be plenty of distractions all around you, but do not forget to put your health above all else until you have recovered.
Do Your Best to Quit Using E-Cigarettes and Encourage Other People to Quit Using Them
Yes, this step is definitely much easier said than done. It is critically important, though, as you want to try every method you can to avoid being injured from vaping again in the future. This is especially true if you were injured by e-cigarette smoke. The effects of e-cigarette smoke injuries and illnesses can linger indefinitely, and you do not want to compound them by continuing to use the products that caused you harm in the first place. Removing yourself from their customer pool may feel like it does not impact them negatively, but every little bit counts. Encourage other people to stop using e-cigarettes, too. If enough other victims do the same, the parties who are often responsible for causing injuries like the ones you suffered will get the message.
Keep All of Your Injury-Related Documents
If you know anything about insurance companies and other big businesses, you know it takes quite a bit of powerful persuasion to get them to open up their checkbooks and appropriately compensate victims who have been injured from vaping. When you are presenting your claim to them, you want to provide so much evidence of your injuries and damages to them that they have virtually no choice but to pay you all the compensation you are owed for your injuries. This evidence should include receipts showing what e-cigarette products you purchased and where you purchased them, your medical records to show what injuries you sustained and what your diagnoses are, your medical bills to show where you received your treatment and how much each provider charged you for the treatment you received and statements from your employer showing the amount of earnings you lost if you have been forced to take time off from work from because of your injuries.
Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney to Represent You in Your Claim
When you are trying to recover from your vaping-related injuries and you want to file a claim against the responsible parties, hiring an experienced personal injury attorney is an important step to take. Your attorney will walk you through the claim process, explain what is happening each step of the way, handle court appearances and filings for you and be your advocate in the courtroom and at the negotiating table. If you want to avoid letting the responsible parties and their insurance companies take advantage of your post-injury vulnerability, hiring an experienced attorney is the right move for you to make.
