Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over Defective Pressure Cooker That Exploded, Ejecting Scalding Hot Contents

A Texas woman has filed a product liability lawsuit against Amazon for selling her an unreasonably dangerous and defective Instant Pot pressure cooker, which sprayed her with scalding hot contents after it exploded as the lid was being removed, which purported safety features never should have allowed to occur.

Maria Lopez filed the complaint (PDF) on August 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, pursuing damages from Midea America Corp. which participated in the design, manufacturing and distribution of the pressure cooker, as well as Amazon.com, which sold the Instant Pot.

The case joins a growing number of similar pressure cooker lawsuits filed in recent months, each raising nearly identical allegations about unreasonably dangerous designs and defective safety features on Instant Pots and other modern pressure cookers, including products sold under the Crock-Pot, Ninja Foodi, Tristar and other popular brand names.

The most common pressure cooker injuries involve burns, which can range from first to third degree and typically cover a large percentage of a person’s body. These types of burn injuries can leave patients prone to infections and sometimes requiring amputations. However, other injuries linked to pressure cookers have included eye injuries, broken bones and other complications that resulted from electrocutions, spills or explosions.

According to the complaint, Lopez purchased her Instant Pot Duo pressure cooker through Amazon.com in late August 2022. However, less than a month after the purchase, the device allowed her to rotate and open the lid while she was unaware the contents were still under pressure, causing it to explode.

The lawsuit indicates the scalding hot contents were forcefully ejected from the pressure cooker and onto Lopez, resulting in serious and substantial burns.

While the pressure cooker was manufactured and distributed by both Instant Brands, Inc. and Midea, Lopez’s lawsuit notes that the Instant Brands is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas has imposed an automatic stay on pressure cooker lawsuits filed against the company. However, she indicates that Amazon.com should also be held liable for selling the defective and dangerous product.

“Said pressure cookers are advertised as convenient and safe and are touted for their supposed ‘safety’ features, which claim to prevent the units from being opened while in use,” Lopez states in the complaint. “Despite these claims of ‘safety,’ Defendants marketed, imported, distributed, and sold a product that suffers from serious and dangerous defects. Said defects cause significant risk of bodily harm and injury to its consumers.”

Lopez presents claims of design defect, failure to warn, negligence and breach of implied warranty of merchantability.

Given design problems linked to sold by various manufacturers, including Instant Pot, Crock Pot, Ninja Foodi and others, pressure cooker injury lawyers provide free consultations to help determine whether individuals nationwide are eligible to pursue a lawsuit for injuries sustained when one of the devices exploded.