Lithium button batteries are highly popular during and following the holiday season and commonly used in watches, hearing aids, remote controls, calculators, toys, and even musical greeting cards. A sad story has been reported of a toddler in Oklahoma losing his life after the ingestion of one of these button batteries. The batteries are of a small enough size that they can pass through the body’s systems without problems, but they can also unfortunately become caught somewhere such as the esophagus and then the alkaline in the batteries exposes the swallower to danger as was the case with two year old Brianna Florer, who died three days after Christmas, 2015. In addition to curious children being at risk of swallowing the button batteries, it has also been found that elderly adults can mistake the batteries for pills and swallow them as well. Chemical burns can ensue once the body has been exposed to the alkaline substance of the batteries within two hours, and it should be noted that little Brianna of Oklahoma lived six days after swallowing one of these button batteries. Symptoms that can occur after swallowing can include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, chest pain, and bloody vomiting, but it can also be quite possible the victim will not exhibit any symptoms at all.
The family of little Brianna made the decision to publicize her loss in order to protect others from the same fate and want everyone out there to be aware and take every precaution possible when using products containing the button battery. Inserra & Kelley Law Offices seeks to make its readership aware of possible product dangers out there, as we want you and your family to be proactively protected for safer and healthier living.