‘You felt like you were poisoned and you were dying’: Nevada jury awards over $3 billion in damages against Real Water

(WJET/WFXP) — A jury has awarded $3 billion in punitive damages to 8 Las Vegas residents who suffered from sudden-onset liver failure after consuming the recalled and discontinued Real Water brand drinking water.

The Las Vegas residents, including 5 children and 3 adults, claimed that Real Water contained a toxic chemical known as hydrazine, which led to their sudden-onset liver failure.

A jury has awarded $3 billion in punitive damages to 8 Las Vegas residents who suffered from sudden-onset liver failure after consuming the recalled and discontinued Real Water brand drinking water.

The Las Vegas residents, including 5 children and 3 adults, claimed that Real Water contained a toxic chemical known as hydrazine, which led to their sudden-onset liver failure. Hydrazine is a toxic chemical used in the production of rocket fuel. The children involved ranged from 7 months old to 5 years old and had to be flown to a children’s hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah for treatment which was a result of drinking Real Water in the fall of 2020.

Real Water argued that they did not anticipate that hydrazine would be present in the water.

You felt like you were poisoned and you were dying.

Christopher Wren, Plaintiff

The emotional testimony revealed the pain and fear endured during the moments from hospitalization to recovery. All those affected now suffer from permanent liver damage and mental trauma.

After the Las Vegas-based health district made the FDA investigation public in mid-March 2021, company president Brent Jones issued a statement calling for stores nationwide to pull Real Water from shelves. The company termed the move voluntary.

A federal lawsuit, settled in June 2021, claimed that Real Water personnel had not properly cleaned and sanitized the water tanks in which they mix processed municipal tap water with E2 Concentrate, potentially leading to chemical and microbial contamination.

While the companies marketed their products as a healthy alternative to tap water, the government alleged that the products, in fact, consisted of municipal tap water that the defendants processed with various chemicals in violation of current good manufacturing practices, relevant food safety standards and hazard prevention measures

In June 2021, the FDA announced that Real Water had agreed to cease operations until they could comply with federal regulations.

However, just two months later, on August 20, 2021, the company officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy amid several pending lawsuits.

This is not the first case where a jury awarded millions in damages. In October 2023, a jury awarded over $228 million in damages to several plaintiffs who also suffered from liver failure, including the family of a 69-year-old woman who died from liver failure in 2020.