Family of late Peterborough dentist launch $12M negligence lawsuit against ethanol lamp maker

The family of a Peterborough dentist who died from serious burns is launching a $12-million negligence lawsuit against the maker and distributor of an ethanol-fuelled lamp.

Dr. Judith Buys, 55, died on Aug. 16, 2016, as a result of burn injuries sustained at cottage in Burnt River, Ont. three days earlier. She operated the Cornerstone Family Dentistry clinic on Reid Street in Peterborough.

According to a statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, on Aug. 13, 2016, Buys and family members were using a Brasa Fire Inc. ethanol lamp as a light source during a power outage.

The claim states when the flames began to fade, one of the hosts got the open refuelling container to pour more ethanol into the lamp but a “flash fire started” as she was pouring.

“Because there was no flame arrester installed on the open refuelling container, a flash fire started, causing flames and ethanol to jet out of the open refuelling container in the direction of Judith Buys,” the claim states.

Buys was hit with the flames and ethanol which caused “burn injuries to most of her body,” the statement claims. She was first rushed to Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay but then airlifted to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto where she died of her injuries.

CHEX News has made requests for comment to Brasa Europe.

In the claim, Toronto critical injury laywer John McLeish says German manufacturer Brasa Europe GmbH and North American distributor Brasa Fire Inc. “should have known that their product could cause serious harm.”

“It is the hope of the family of Dr. Judith Buys that this lawsuit will draw attention to the serious and recognized hazard of ethanol-fuelled lamps,” McLeish said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It is the hope of the family of Dr. Judith Buys that this lawsuit will draw attention to the serious and recognized hazard of ethanol-fuelled lamps," McLeish said.

The claim also alleges the Brasa companies “designed, manufactured, packaged, and sold an unsafe ethanol-fuelled lamp and open refuelling container,” which “they failed to adequately test” before distribution.

Dr. James McGorman says his wife’s death was entirely preventable.

“We have launched this suit to bring the needed attention to the danger of ethanol-fuelled lamps,” he stated. “It is outrageous that these products are still being sold.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We have launched this suit to bring the needed attention to the danger of ethanol-fuelled lamps," he stated. "It is outrageous that these products are still being sold."

The claim also alleges the Brasa companies “did not provide barrier protection or a flame arrester” on the open refuelling container to prevent combustion of ethanol and the companies failed to provide any or sufficient warning that lamp design presented a “serious and recognized hazard.”

“(The companies) knew or should have known that the flame on the ethanol-fuelled lamp was sometimes invisible or very difficult to see and that some consumers would think the flame was extinguished, when it, in fact, was not,” the claim alleges.

The claim says as a result, users would attempt to add ethanol and that the Brasa companies “should have known that any flame visible or invisible in the ethanol-fuelled lamp was an ignition source and that vapours from the open refuelling container could act like an invisible wick, leading to combustion of the remaining ethanol in the open refuelling container.”

“This suit is a chance to prevent other tragedies,” McLeish said.