Family of Missouri woman killed in ‘huffing’ accident granted $745 million in lawsuit
A Missouri jury granted $745 million to the family of a woman who officials say was killed when an SUV driver accused of huffing nitrous oxide canisters passed out and hit her, news outlets reported.
Marissa Politte was 25 years old when she died, the Ballwin Police Department said in a news release. She had just gotten off work at an urgent care in the St. Louis suburb on Oct. 18, 2020, when an SUV hit her on the sidewalk, KMOV reported, citing a lawsuit brought by the family.
The lawsuit says the driver of the SUV, Trenton Geiger, had been huffing Whip-It! nitrous oxide prior to the crash and then passed out, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Investigators say after the crash, Geiger tossed the Whip-It! containers into the woods to try and get rid of evidence, the outlet reported.
McClatchy News reached out to Geiger’s attorney for comment on Sept. 11 but did not immediately hear back.
Politte died as a result of her injuries, police said. The family says United Brands Corporation, the company that distributes Whip-It!, and Coughing Cardinal LLC, a smoke shop, are responsible, according to KSDK.
The family accuses Whip-It! of selling its products to Coughing Cardinal LLC knowing customers would buy them to illegally consume them to get high, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
“Marissa Politte should be the last, it shouldn’t have happened in the first place, but my God, it should be the last,” the attorney for Politte’s family, Johnny Simon, told KMOV.
McClatchy News reached out to United Brands and Coughing Cardinal LLC on Sept. 11 but did not immediately hear back.
During the trial, United Brands’ attorneys said the product’s warning labels about the dangers of inhaling it were ignored, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
“United Brands has for decades marketed and sold nitrous oxide (a food propellant) to places like Coughing Cardinal (a head shop selling drug paraphernalia), that simply have no business selling this addictive drug,” a statement from the Simon Law Firm said.
The Whip-It! product sold at Coughing Cardinal LLC is known as “whippets” and is used as a nitrous oxide charger, KMOV reported.
People inhale nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, from the chargers, which can cause users to faint, develop a headache, and get dizzy and nauseated, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
In addition to the canisters Geiger is accused of throwing in the woods, police said they found a used Whip-It! near the driver’s seat and “several unused cartridges,” according to KMOV.
“Each one of those makes 16 ounces of whip cream, so even if they had plausible reasons for selling it, which they don’t, that’s a ... a lot of whip cream for a place that doesn’t sell any food,” Simon said, according to KSDK.
Court documents show the jury found United Brands to be 70% at fault, Coughing Cardinal 20% at fault and Geiger 10% at fault, KSDK reported.
Court records show on March 6, Geiger pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.
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