At least five babies and children in Nevada have contracted acute non-viral hepatitis, resulting in liver failure, after drinking “alkalized” water through the “Real Water” brand, local and federal regulators reported this week. At least six others became ill with less severe conditions after drinking the water – and additional reports still appear.
The initial five babies and children with liver failure became ill in November 2020 and had to be hospitalized, but they have since recovered. They lived in four different households in southern Nevada. The other six patients – three adults and three children – come from at least two of the same households and reported vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite and fatigue, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
The health district is investigating the matter with the Food and Drug Administration. It is not yet clear what caused the diseases, but ‘the consumption of alkaline water’ Real Water ‘is so far the only common link between all the cases,’ the health district said.
The FDA has advised consumers, restaurants and retailers not to drink, boil, sell or serve “Real Water” alkaline water until more information is known.
A family in Las Vegas filed a lawsuit against Real Water on Tuesday. According to the lawsuit reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, parents Emely and Christopher Brian Wren and their 2-year-old son became ill after drinking the water. Both the father and the toddler were admitted to the hospital with liver problems, while the mother had extreme nausea and fatigue. The couple’s daughter, who avoided the water, did not get sick.
Dangerous waters
Law firm Kemp Jones, LLP, filed a second lawsuit against Real Water on Thursday. The lawsuit alleges that a Nevada man who drank the water “suffered from acute liver failure and was told he was a candidate for an immediate liver transplant,” according to the Review Journal.
Attorney Will Kemp told the newspaper that the firm had brought dozens of calls from other people who believed they were sick by the water. The newspaper also covered two cases of Real Water consumers who mysteriously fell ill. In one case, a generally healthy 69-year-old woman died of aspirated pneumonia and liver failure after drinking a yield of 64 grams of water a day, according to the sister of the deceased woman. Another woman spent nine days in the hospital recovering $ 100,000 in medical bills.
Real Water claims that its water – which is sold throughout the Southwest – is infused with negative ions and has a pH of 9.0. The company vaguely refers to unproven health benefits and suggests that drinking the water leads to increased cellular hydration. There are no established benefits to alkaline diets and water, and the human body maintains its own healthy pH.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Real Water President Brent Jones said the company’s “goal is to work diligently with the FDA to reach a speedy resolution.” company’s “Las Vegas delivery operation.”
“Real Water is asking all retailers to remove the product from the shelf immediately and keep it in the back rooms or return it to the distributors,” Jones said. “Every customer who bought Real Water from a retailer is asked to return the product.”