Amazon.com Inc. seeks to close lawsuit accused of selling deadly chemical used in two suicides, but was dismissed by a Washington judge.
King County Superior Court Judge Josephine Wiggs denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss on Friday. You can now consider your question.
The lawsuit involves the deaths of 17-year-old Tyler Muhlmann and 27-year-old Michael Scott after ingesting sodium nitrite, a chemical they ordered from an Amazon website. A lawyer representing the family said the chemical in virtually pure form had no apparent home use and could only be used for suicide.
“This decision is a legitimacy for our client,” said Carrie Goldberg of the law firm CA Goldberg PLLC, which has filed two lawsuits against Amazon to date in this matter.
According to the family’s attorney, Amazon continued to sell virtually pure sodium nitrite after customers were warned of using it for self-harm.
Amazon did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The company previously told Bloomberg Law Firm that it began restricting the sale of chemicals to buyers on the Amazon Business Marketplace in October to minimize the potential for misuse.
A company spokesperson said at the time that “pure” sodium nitrite was not intended for direct consumption and “unfortunately, like many products, it can be misused.” .
