Can my friend sue the mattress company if the baby died from the chemicals in the mattress? 21 Answers as of February 17, 2012

It is possible, but if the government cleared the chemicals you will have to prove the chemicals were dangerous or in dangerous levels. There may be some preemption problems also. I would contact a high level products firm.

There may be a potential claim. Have your friend call my office, as soon as she is able. Preservation of evidence is critical. Stay well.

Yes, if you can prove the causation.

If your friend could prove the connection between the chemicals and the death of her baby, then there could potentially be a claim there. Product liability cases require expert witnesses who can identify a defect and establish causation between the defect and the injury or death. If a doctor or someone else with the proper qualifications to form an opinion has already told your friend that the chemicals were to blame, that would be a very good start in proving the case. Your friend should consider talking to a lawyer who could help you friend determine whether the chances of success are sufficient to consider making a claim against the manufacturer. There may be other avenues of recovery as well that your friend has not considered. Wrongful death cases in Florida generally must be filed two years after the death (there are exceptions but it is better to consider it a hard deadline until a lawyer tells you otherwise), and a claim of this complexity would require time to work up so your friend should talk to a lawyer right away if she wants to consider a claim.

If it can be proven that the mattress chemicals led to the death of the infant, a lawsuit can be brought.

Yes, if there is negligence on the part of the manufacturer of the mattress and, that negligence was the proximate cause of the baby's death. Your friend should consult with or retain a plaintiff's product liability lawyer for legal advice and legal representation.

The manufacturer and seller of a product can be held liable for injuries caused by a defect of the product. Your friend would have to prove that there was a defect in the design or manufacture of the product, or that they failed to adequately warn you of potential hazards, which resulted in the child's death. As for the government regulations, there may be a conflict: it is likely that flame-retardant chemicals are required, but it is possible that specific chemicals are not mandated. There may be other regulations that state that hazardous chemicals are not allowed, or that there are limits on the level, etc. One thing to remember, though: unfortunately, the causes of SIDS are not well understood and your friend would have to prove that the chemicals were the cause

This is a specialized area of law for products liability. Search for attorneys that handle products liability cases and they should be able to answer your questions.

If the government requires the mattress company treat all baby mattresses with the chemicals which allegedly caused the death, then the mattress company cannot be held liable. Had the mattress company not treated the mattresses with the chemicals, then the government would have likely fined the manufacturer or penalized them in a worse way. There is no liability on the mattress company according to your facts.

SIDS stands for sudden infant death syndrome. They use SIDS to classify deaths of infants where the cause of death is unknown. If you can prove the chemicals caused the death, then yes, there would likely be grounds for a lawsuit. However, there would need to be evidence; it can't just be on a hunch. Like most lawsuits, it would be extremely dependent on the facts and evidence. The first thing you should do is google the manufacturer of the mattress to see if there are any lawsuit already out there.