Nevada jury awards $130 million to victims of liver damage from bottled water

A Nevada jury has recently ruled in favor of five individuals who suffered liver damage after consuming bottled water from a Las Vegas-based company. The jury awarded approximately $130 million in damages in a lawsuit filed against AffinityLifestyles.com Inc., the maker of Real Water brand, which was recalled from store shelves in 2021.

Compensatory and punitive damages

The Clark County District Court jury awarded over $30 million in compensatory damages to the plaintiffs, including Myles Hunwardsen, a man from Henderson who underwent a liver transplant at the age of 29. Additionally, the jury levied $100 million in punitive damages.

Previous case and pending lawsuits

This ruling marks the second substantial award in a negligence and product liability case involving the Real Water brand. In a previous case in October, a state court jury granted over $228 million in damages to several plaintiffs, including the relatives of a woman who passed away and a 7-month-old boy who was hospitalized, both diagnosed with severe liver failure. Attorney Will Kemp, who represented the plaintiffs in both trials, stated that several other negligence and product liability cases are pending against the company, including one scheduled to begin in May, stemming from liver damage diagnoses of six children ranging from 7 months to 11 years old at the time.

Defendants and settlements

Other defendants in the case reached confidential settlements before trial, including Whole Foods Market, Costco Wholesale, and testing meter companies Hanna Instruments and Milwaukee Instruments. Terrible Herbst, a convenience store chain, reached a settlement during the trial. Affinitylifestyles.com’s former head, Brent Jones, who previously served as a Republican state Assembly member from 2016 to 2018, has declared bankruptcy and left the state.

Chemical contamination

During the trial, evidence was presented indicating that Real Water contained hydrazine, a chemical used in rocket fuel, which may have been introduced during treatment before bottling. The company's attorney argued that they were unintentionally negligent and not reckless, claiming they were unaware of the presence of hydrazine in the water and did not know to test for it.

Water supply and warnings

The water used by Real Water was sourced from the Las Vegas-area public supply, primarily from the Lake Mead reservoir behind Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, which is monitored and tested by the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The water authority confirmed that hydrazine is not among the 166 contaminants they monitor and test for. Despite this, the public was urged not to consume or use Real Water, and it was subsequently removed from store shelves following public warnings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Clark County Health District in 2021.