Amazon can be sued over deaths linked to chemical sales, Washington Supreme Court rules

The Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously on ​Thursday that Amazon.com must face lawsuits by families that ⁠lost relatives who died by suicide after consuming a specific chemical they bought from outside vendors on the retailer’s website.

All nine justices rejected a ruling by an ‌intermediate-level appeals court that the families could not sue Amazon for negligence because suicide was a superseding cause of their relatives’ ‌deaths.

Justice G. Helen Whitener wrote that Amazon owed customers ‌a duty ⁠of reasonable care, and must avoid exposing them to “harm from ⁠the foreseeable conduct of a third party.” She said a jury should decide whether suicide was a foreseeable result of the Seattle-based retailer’s alleged failure to exercise that duty.

Twenty-eight families ‌have filed lawsuits alleging that Amazon has known for years about the link between the chemical and suicide, yet continued to allow unrestricted sales, alongside other products that could assist in suicides. They ‌have labeled these products collectively as “suicide kits.”

The families are seeking unspecified ​damages from Amazon under a Washington state product liability law for their relatives’ deaths. Thursday’s decision covered appeals by four ⁠of the families, who said they lost relatives ages 17 to 27 who consumed that chemical with 98% or 99.6% purity levels in 2020 and 2021. Amazon ‌said it disagreed with the decision, and was committed to the safety of all its customers. It expressed condolences to families affected by suicide.

The case is one of many seeking to hold online sales platforms such as Amazon responsible for products sold by third-party vendors.

“Amazon is one of the ‌world’s biggest companies, and shouldn’t be profiting from products they know people use ​to harm themselves,” Carrie Goldberg, a lawyer for the families, said in an interview.

The legal chemical is often ⁠used as a preservative in foods, such as meat and fish. It ⁠also can be used in research laboratories, and in the treatment of poisoning.

In its statement, Amazon said the highly concentrated ‌chemical “is not intended for direct consumption, and unfortunately, like many products, it can be misused.”

Amazon said it now prohibits sales ​of the chemical with purity levels above 10%.

(Those in distress or having suicidal thoughts are encouraged to seek help and counselling by calling the helpline numbers here)