Las Vegas, Nevada – A Nevada jury has awarded approximately $130 million in damages to five individuals who suffered liver damage after consuming bottled water sold by a Las Vegas-based company. The product was later recalled from store shelves in 2021. The Clark County District Court jury granted over $30 million in compensatory damages and an additional $100 million in punitive damages to the plaintiffs, including Myles Hunwardsen, who underwent a liver transplant at the age of 29.
This marks the second large-sum award in a negligence and product liability case involving AffinityLifestyles.com Inc. and its Real Water brand. The bottled water, marketed as premium treated “alkalized” water with detoxifying properties, was sold in distinctive boxy blue bottles.
Last October, a state court jury awarded more than $228 million in damages to several plaintiffs, including the relatives of a 69-year-old woman who died and a 7-month-old boy who suffered severe liver failure. The recent verdict aims to send a message to food and beverage manufacturers about the importance of quality assurance, according to Will Kemp, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in both trials. Several more negligence and product liability cases against the company, including one involving six children diagnosed with liver damage, are pending and scheduled to begin in May.
Affinitylifestyles.com, previously headed by former Republican state Assembly member Brent Jones, has declared bankruptcy and relocated out of state. Jones could not be reached for comment. Whole Foods Market, Costco Wholesale, and testing meter companies Hanna Instruments and Milwaukee Instruments settled the case before trial, with the terms remaining confidential. Terrible Herbst, a convenience store chain, reached a settlement during the trial.
During the trial, jurors learned that tests revealed the presence of hydrazine, a chemical used in rocket fuel, in Real Water. The defense attorney argued that the company was unintentionally negligent, unaware that hydrazine was present in the water and not testing for it. The water used by Real Water came from the Las Vegas-area public supply, which is monitored and tested for 166 different possible contaminants. However, hydrazine is not among them, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Real Water was sold for over eight years in Central and Southern California, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Utah. The product was also promoted on social media and sold online. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Clark County Health District issued public warnings in March 2021, advising against the consumption or use of Real Water and ordering its removal from store shelves.