this Jacuzzi walk-in bathtub is a
popular product in homes across the
country but tonight Channel 2
investigates is taking a closer look at
a pair of lawsuits filed against Jacuzzi
at the center of those lawsuits two
deaths and two families claiming Jacuzzi
designed a defective product channel 2
investigator drol Eisen bomb has been
digging into the claims reviewing the
video and talking to people on both
sides so you've decided to look into
getting and walk-in bath smart choice
their marketing material sells peace of
mind and the target buyers by the
thousands are America's aging population
you or someone you love is probably
having some concerns about safety when
it comes to bathing once he saw that
advertisement that's what he wanted max
Smith in his 60s fit the demographic to
a tee after a lifetime of public service
and the aches and pains that come with
it
Smith was ready to invest in his own
Jacuzzi brand walk-in tub well I saw the
bill and I was like educate me 15,000 15
grand for the tub much heavens
insulation and all that what Mac Smith
couldn't know is that jacuzzis own chief
engineer in a videotaped deposition as
part of a civil lawsuit against Jacuzzi
painted a much plainer picture of the
product this bathtub is just a bath tub
with the door in it what tests did they
do to see if this tub could it's
designed for seniors zero this tub is
basically a deathtrap like you're not
buying itself you're buying a gasket
macho County number one he slides out of
the tub and out of the seat of the tub
his feet were directly in the air kickin
that seems startling account was
captured in EMS and Hospital reports we
obtained along with the 9-1-1 call this
is how Smith ended up according to his
wife wedged sandwiched with his feet
above him and his head quickly sinking
underwater and there was no quick way to
get him or the water out because he was
blocking the inward opening door my dad
would be alive sitting next to me right
now with the friends of the medical
examiner officially ruled Smith's heart
stopped due to drowning his family is
now suing jacuzzi along with the company
that installed the tub and the company
that sold it we have an issue with the
design of that door as part of that
lawsuit the Smith's attorneys have hired
a houston product testing firm ata
associates who in turn hired test
subjects ata reports nearly 3/4 of them
found at least one problem with the tubs
design I had to slide right to the edge
of the bench and if you slide off
essentially you can get trapped in a
very confined space I think it's a death
trap the same space the door needs to
open conclusion this particular design
disabled it elderly can be extremely
dangerous
in their lawsuit the Smiths called the
jacuzzi walk-in tub defective quote a
deathtrap for nearly any elderly person
who happens to fall down while
advertising jacuzzi bathtub is an
industry leader with regard to safety
just walk in laibach and relax do you
have a company that is marketing their
product to the elderly and they're using
kind of a fear-based tactic then Cloward
is another lawyer in another lawsuit
against jacuzzi following the 2014 death
of 67 year-old sherry Coniston she's in
the well at this point unable to get
herself out and she remains there for
two to three days for two to three days
3 to 3 days how'd they finally get her
out they had to cut the door completely
off using a sawzall Coniston got out of
the tub alive but died days later in the
hospital her family also filed a lawsuit
calling Jacuzzi and affiliated companies
negligent jacuzzi disputes that claim
their lawyer writing us quote there are
significant facts not included in the
complaint jacuzzi cannot control how
people use or misuse its products when
designing this walk-in jacuzzi tub did
you use the expertise of any medical
doctors
any physical therapist you know the
occupational therapist nope it's still
on the market
and the problem is people in America
don't understand that the risk here pull
it from the market you say yeah there's
no woman what are you gonna torture
another family a lawyer for Jacuzzi
tells us the company hasn't seen the
smiths lawsuit yet but that jacuzzi is
committed to designing and manufacturing
safe and reliable products you can see
their entire statement on our website at
click2houston.com it's under the
investigates section Joe Eliza mom KPRC
Channel 2 News