Wash. Appellate Court Says Amazon Not Liable for Suicides Caused by Sodium Nitrite

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Amazon.com cannot be held liable to the families of individuals who committed suicide by ingesting sodium nitrite they bought from the online retailer, a Washington appellate court has ruled, because state law does not impose a duty on sellers to protect against intentional misuse of a product.

In a Nov. 25 opinion, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division One, further held that proximate causation is lacking because plaintiffs did not allege that Amazon injured any of the purchasers in a manner that “caused a mental condition which resulted in an uncontrollable impulse to commit suicide.”

The families …