An Ohio resident narrowly escaped a life-threatening situation when he mistakenly consumed four poisonous mushrooms, relying on a plant identifier app that incorrectly classified them as edible. CNN reported that William Hickman, 55, stumbled upon the mushrooms while tending to his Windham property last year.
Capturing an image of the cluster, he used a plant identifier app on his phone, which identified the mushrooms as 'giant puffballs,' a supposedly safe variety. Hickman proceeded to include them in his tortellini dinner that evening.
Contrary to the app's information, the mushrooms turned out to be poisonous 'destroying angels.' Eight hours after ingestion, Hickman began experiencing intense vomiting and severe pain. Despite the typical expectation of some relief after illness, the distressing symptoms persisted, prompting him to seek medical attention.
Hickman's wife, Tammy, photographed the mushrooms and shared them with poison control, who suspected a dangerous mushroom ingestion and advised immediate hospitalization. Despite his usual stubbornness, Hickman complied with the recommendation. In the emergency room, doctors conveyed a grim prognosis, with his kidney and liver at risk of failure. Consequently, he was transferred to University Hospital in Cleveland.
The incident sheds light on the dangers associated with misidentification of mushrooms, a concern highlighted by the surge in calls to America's Poison Centers. Between January and October 2023, over 7,250 calls were received regarding potential mushroom poisonings, marking an 11 percent increase compared to the entire 2022.
Ohio alone witnessed more than 260 mushroom-related calls by October, leading to 45 percent of cases seeking emergency room assistance and 33 individuals requiring hospitalization.
The app that misidentified the mushrooms could potentially be held liable for providing inaccurate information. If the app failed to properly identify the mushrooms and provided misinformation that led to the ingestion of poisonous fungi, it might face legal consequences.
A common cause of action related to smartphone application is negligent design. An assertion of a design defect in a negligence claim means that the product is flawed due to a lack of reasonable care in its design. In this scenario, the plaintiff aims to demonstrate the manner or reason behind the product's defectiveness. Cases dealing with product defects frequently combine claims under both negligence and products liability, with many courts employing a blend of these legal principles in such instances.
While William Hickman relied on the information provided by the app, the user may also bear some responsibility for not cross-verifying the identification through other means or seeking professional advice before consuming the mushrooms.
Either way at the present time there has been no litigation filed by either party.
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