By B.N. Frank
In March 2022, 1.7 million Fitbits were recalled for burning wearers. This was also NOT the first Fitbit recall due to burn injuries either. Additionally a new lawsuit was recently filed in re Fitbits burning wearers.
From Ars Technica:
Lawsuit claims more Fitbits are burn hazards, includes gross pictures
Lawsuit says Fitbits are supposed to help customers “burn calories—not their skin.”
Google and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled 1.7 million Fitbit Ionic smartwatches earlier this year, citing “78 reports of burn injuries in the United States, including two reports of third-degree burns and four reports of second-degree burns.” A new lawsuit claims the recall was not enough and that “the same defect exists throughout all” Fitbit products.
Further Reading
Google recalls the Fitbit Ionic for causing burn injuries, offers full refund
The Fitbit Ionic’s recall was due to faulty batteries that would overheat and burn a user’s skin. It’s hard to believe “all” Fitbit products are affected by this defect, but given that companies tend to share designs and components across products, it would not be surprising to hear that multiple smartwatch-style models contain defective batteries.
Two women named in the lawsuit claim they were burned by their Fitbits; one had a Fitbit Versa Light and the other a Fitbit Versa 2. The lawsuit also points out several online reports of burns from Fitbit products, like the Fitbit Versa and Fitbit Sense lines. Fitbit’s replies usually claim these reports are due to “skin irritation” or “friction,” but the lawsuit contends that this is not the case, saying that these products can “overheat and pose a significant hazard for burns and fires” due to a defect in “the battery and charging system.”
Here are a few of the reports with pictures that were cited in the lawsuit:
It also doesn’t take much time to scan the replies of @fitbitsupport on Twitter, where you’ll find lots of pictures of melted chargers and failing batteries.
The lawsuit also takes issue with how the Ionic recall has been handled. Google said it would offer “full refunds” to Ionic users, but the lawsuit says Google is “suppressing” those refunds. The lawsuit includes many reports of users still not getting a refund after eight weeks.
The lawsuit seeks class action status to represent customers in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Washington.
Wireless wearables – including Fitbits – expose wearers to Electromagnetic Fields (aka “Electrosmog”), Bluetooth, and wireless “Wi-Fi” radiation. Manufacturers are required to provide warnings about exposure risks for all wireless radiation emitting products; however, these warnings aren’t necessarily easy to find or even understand.
Wireless radiation exposure can cause a variety of undesirable symptoms and injuries including skin irritations and cardiac health issues. Nevertheless, in April 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Fitbit permission to add a new atrial fibrillation-detection feature to its watches. Of course, the FDA has a long history of NOT protecting Americans from wireless radiation exposure and the agency continues to be criticized for that (see 1, 2). Ditto with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In 2021, a federal court ruled in favor of organizations and petitioners that sued the FCC for NOT adequately protecting Americans from wireless radiation exposure (including 5G).
Got pets? Exposure can affect them too.
Activist Post reports regularly about wireless wearables and other unsafe technology. For more information visit our archives and the following websites.
- Wireless Information Network
- Environmental Health Trust
- Electromagnetic Radiation Safety
- Physicians for Safe Technology
Become a Patron!
Or support us at SubscribeStar
Donate cryptocurrency HERE
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Follow us on SoMee, Telegram, HIVE, Flote, Minds, MeWe, Twitter, Gab, What Really Happened and GETTR.
Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.