Health officials link more hepatitis cases to Real Water
The Southern Nevada Health District has linked at least six additional cases of severe liver disease to the Las Vegas-based Real Water brand alkaline water, the district announced Monday.
Those six probable cases of acute non-viral hepatitis make for a total of 11, the district said in a news release. A 12th case “meets the clinical criteria” but remains under investigation.
All 12 cases resulted in hospitalization; the patients have since been released. None was so ill as to need a liver transplant, the district said.
To date, the only link found among the cases has been drinking Real Water. Advocates of alkaline water, which has a higher pH than regular drinking water, say it can neutralize the acid in your body.
Fifty additional reports of illness are being investigated, the district said.
Lawsuits filed
Since mid-March, at least nine lawsuits have been filed in Clark County after the health district and the Food and Drug Administration issued warnings about Real Water. Lawyers have said they linked the brand to severe illnesses in upwards of 50 people, including young children.
In the days after the FDA launched an investigation into the product, more and more Nevadans stepped forward with concerns, according to attorney Will Kemp, who has filed eight lawsuits on behalf of 38 plaintiffs who reported illnesses dating back to late 2019.
“Every one of them was hospitalized for four to 12 days,” Kemp said Monday. “They (the health district) will hit 50 if they keep investigating all of them. The word is getting out to the community. It’s just such an unusual thing that water would be causing these liver problems.”
He added that he expected to file another lawsuit later this week.
The health district said it initially received reports of five cases of severe acute non-viral hepatitis in children late last year. The children were between the ages of 7 months and 5 years old.
The ages of the newly identified probable and suspected cases range from 32 to 71.
Product recalled
Acute non-viral hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can be caused by exposure to toxins, autoimmune disease or drinking too much alcohol, the health district said.
The most common symptoms reported in the identified cases included nausea and vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite and dizziness.
Symptoms often include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain, and yellow skin or eyes.
The FDA, which has recalled the product, said on its website that it is aware that the water is still being offered for sale through online retailers.
Consumers, restaurants, distributors, and retailers should not drink, cook with, sell, or serve “Real Water” alkaline water until more information is known about the cause of the illnesses, the agency said. It also advises that this water not be served to pets.
Why the product might be causing illness remains unclear. Earlier this month, Real Water turned over to the court devices used to measure oxidation levels and contaminants in the product.
After Real Water was pulled from the shelves, one woman told the Review-Journal that her 69-year-old sister, avid Real Water drinker Kathleen Ryerson, died from pneumonia and liver failure on Nov. 11.
One man underwent a liver transplant after he became sick from drinking the product, while one woman suffered a stroke, and a former UFC fighter was hospitalized, lawsuits alleged. At least two miscarriages and three dead dogs also have been tied to the water through civil complaints.
Real Water President Brent Jones, a former Nevada legislator, has apologized to customers, while the company’s lawyers have said that they were cooperating with ongoing investigations.
Attorneys for Real Water could not be reached late Monday to respond to the health district’s announcement.
Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter. Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
