BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - A 14-year-old boy died from taking part in the One Chip Challenge with friends, a Massachusetts lawsuit against various defendants who made and sold the extra-spicy snack says.
The estate of Harris Wolobah filed a lawsuit July 11 against several companies and individuals following the death of the 14-year-old Wolobah, who died on September 1, 2023, after consuming a chip from the "One Chip Challenge."
The defendants named in the suit include Paqui, LLC; Amplify Snack Brands, Inc.; The Hershey Company; Walgreen Eastern Co., Inc.; Walgreens of Massachusetts, LLC; James Connolly; and an unidentified employee referred to as Jane Doe.
The plaintiff, Lois Lama Wolobah, acting as the personal representative of Harris Wolobah's estate, alleges that the defendants were negligent in their design, manufacture, distribution, inspection, testing, marketing, and sale of the product.
The complaint highlights that the chip contained extremely high levels of capsaicin from Carolina Reaper and Naga Viper peppers. It is claimed that despite knowing the dangers associated with the product and its appeal to minors through social media challenges, the defendants failed to take adequate measures to prevent minors from accessing it.
Wolobah died after eating a chip with friends who videotaped the challenge. He told a school nurse he wasn't feeling well, then lost consciousness. He complained about severe pain in his stomach.
Eventually, he was sent home instead of to a hospital. He again passed out at home and later died, with the cause of death determined to be "cardiopulmonary arrest in the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration in a person with cardiomegaly and myocardial bridging of the left anterior descending coronary artery."
The lawsuit seeks damages for conscious pain and suffering endured by Harris Wolobah before his death.
Douglas Sheff of Sheff & Cook in Boston represents the plaintiff.