In 2014, sales of e-cigarettes reached $795 million. According to a report issued by the U.S. Fire Administration in 2016, fires or explosions caused by these devices combine the e-cigarette and a lithium-ion battery that produce injuries like no other product on the market. An estimated 60% of all injuries involving electronic cigarette devices happen when the device is in in a pocket or actively in use. Between 2015 and 2017, there were an estimated 2035 separate incidents of explosion and fire of e-cigarettes that were reported by U.S. hospitals and trauma centers.
The Global News reported on its website that a 17-year-old boy using an e-cigarette was injured when the device exploded and broke his jaw. In a report issued by the New England Journal of Medicine, the teen was complaining of pain and swelling of the jaw when he went to the emergency room at an area hospital two hours later.
The explosion of the e-cigarette had caused a circular puncture of the boy’s jaw, extensive cuts to his mouth, tooth damage and other damage on the left side of his face. Scans revealed that the teen’s jaw had been split down the center.
Doctors performed surgery on the teen, removing the bottom damaged teeth and inserting a bar and wires to hold his jaw in place so that it could heal. Six weeks after the surgery was performed, the jaw was showing marked improvement so the wires were removed.
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The National Institute of Health’s Center on Drug Abuse and other consumer watchdog groups allege that e-cigarette manufacturers target advertising of their products to teens. An estimated 7 out of 10 teens are exposed to marketing of e-cigarettes. The NIH estimates that approximately 30.7 % of teen users of e-cigarettes will become smokers as adults.
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