A NIGHTMARE

Parents Sue Amazon for Selling ‘Suicide Kits’ To Teens

Two families are now suing Amazon for selling sodium nitrite, a fatal chemical normally used to preserve meats, to their children, leading to their deaths.

Two families are suing Amazon for selling so-called “suicide kits” that led to the deaths of their two teenagers. Family members allege that Amazon had a deadly chemical on sale, which the teens bought and used to take their own lives. The chemical was sodium nitrite, a food preservative that can be fatal for humans if ingested with the right levels of purity. Usually, sodium nitrite is used only at low concentrations, and can cure pork products like bacon and hot dogs. “Amazon is selling a product that is as deadly as cyanide," Carrie Goldberg and Naomi Leeds, the families’ attorneys, said in a statement. "This is different from them selling rope, knives, or other implements that can be used for death because there is no household use for [sodium nitrite] at the level of purity (98-99%) it sells it.” In another statement, Amazon sent its “deepest condolences” to the family, explaining that the product is available for retailers to “preserve foods.”