Four People Injured By E-Cigarettes

SEATTLE (AP) — E-cigarette explosions have landed four patients in Seattle's Harborview Medical Center since October for treatment by burn and trauma experts.

The Seattle Times reports one of those injured people is 24-year-old Daniel Pickett, who underwent five surgeries and skin grafts from forearm to elbow.

Lawyer Robert Sealby plans to represent Picket in a lawsuit. Harborview trauma and burn critical-care fellow Dr. Elisha Brownson says these incidents are happening more frequently than previously realized. Fire experts have associated the explosions with battery failures.

Gregory Conley of the American Vaping Association said in an email that properly used e-cigarettes pose no more risk of fire than cellphones and laptops.