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Infant dies after static spark ignites oxygen and baby oil

July 20th, 2007 by John Simon

The parents of a three-month-old infant who died after a mixture of oxygen and baby oil ignited settled a lawsuit against the oxygen concentrator manufacturer and the supplier for $3 million.

John Doe was born on Dec. 10, 2004. His mother went into labor early and the baby was delivered at Barnes Jewish Hospital at 32 weeks gestation. The premature baby was admitted to a special care nursery in the hospital, placed on oxygen and monitored for respiratory distress and other complications related to preterm birth. He remained in the hospital for the next six weeks.

On Jan. 21, 2005, the day before the infant was discharged from the hospital, an oxygen concentrator was delivered to the parents’ apartment. The device supplies higher concentrations of oxygen to the user than what is available in the air. When the device was delivered, it did not contain any warnings advising against the use of oils during the device’s operation. The supplier warned the mother not to put Vaseline on her son’s face but was not told that she should also not put baby oil on the boy’s body.

On the evening of March 22, 2005, the mother bathed her son, rubbed about a teaspoon of baby oil on his body and applied A&D diaper rash ointment. After dinner, the three-month-old was put to bed while connected to the oxygen concentrator.

At about 3 a.m. on March 23, the mother woke to the smell of smoke. She roused the baby’s father who then discovered his son engulfed in flames. The father tried to put the fire out with a comforter but was unsuccessful. He then rushed his son into the bathroom and used water to extinguish the flames on the boy’s body.

When EMS arrived, the infant had no pulse and was in cardiac arrest. He was taken to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. He had second degree burns on his entire face and right ear; third degree burns on his right hand, right foot and right leg; the fingers on his right hand were charred. More than 30 percent of his body surface was burned including his groin and genitalia.

After the treating physician informed the parents that their son suffered severe neurological devastation, his pupils were fixed and dilated, and that his condition was hopeless and grave, the infant’s parents requested that the child be removed from life support. The child died on March 25 in his mother’s arms.

The Bomb & Arson division of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the fire and concluded that a static spark caused the mixture of oxygen and baby oil to ignite.

The parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the City of St. Louis for strict liability and negligence against the manufacturer of the oxygen concentrator and the supplier. The suit alleged the manufacturer and supplier failed to warn against using oils while operating the device. The suit alleged the fire was caused by a static electric charge that ignited the mixture of oxygen and baby oil.

St. Louis attorney John G. Simon of Simon٠Passanante P.C. represented the parents.

The defendants denied the allegations, asserting that the fire was started as a result of the father’s cigarette smoking. However, there was no evidence of smoking near the device while it was operating and both the St. Louis Fire Department and police department ruled out smoking as the source of ignition.

The oxygen equipment industry has long recognized the dangers associated with mixing oil and oxygen. According to industry standards, oxygen equipment must be protected from contact with oil or grease and should never be handled with oily or greasy hands. National Fire Protection Association standards also state that static electricity won’t normally be an ignition source in oxygen-enriched environments “as long as easily ignited substances (such as alcohols, acetone, oils, greases, or lotions) are not present.”

The parents learned that there were three other instances in which a static spark was alleged to have caused a fire involving the same device.

In a deposition, the manufacturer’s corporate representative testified that no oils of any type should be used while a person is using the oxygen concentrator. He also admitted that neither the oxygen concentrator itself nor the operator’s manual warned users not to use oil while using the machine.

“The mother told us that she would never have put baby oil on her child if she’d known about the dangers,” said Simon. “A simple warning would have saved the baby’s life and his parents from a lifetime of grief.”

On June 15, following mediation, the manufacturer and supplier agreed to settle the case without admitting liability. The manufacturer agreed to pay $2 million. The supplier agreed to a $1 million settlement. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, the names of the manufacturer and supplier are confidential.

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