Playtex Tampons Killed|Her Daughter, Mom Says

CHICAGO (CN) - Playtex Sport tampons killed a 16-year-old girl, her mother claims in Cook County Court. Katherine Neff says her daughter Kelly died of toxic shock syndrome caused by the tampons' dangerous mix of viscose rayon and cotton.

Neff says that Playtex targets teens in its advertisements, but does not warn them of the risk of toxic shock syndrome. She says the tampons' synthetic materials gave her daughter nausea, vomiting, a sore throat, leg rashes and a high fever, which ultimately caused her organs to fail.

She says her daughter was rushed to Loyola University Homer Glen's urgent care center in a lethargic state in August 2007. She was found to have an "elevated white blood cell count," after using super-absorbent Playtex Sport Tampons, according to the complaint.

Kelly was sent by ambulance to Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet. Her blood pressure became low and her pulse faint, and she was sent in another ambulance to Loyola Medical's Maywood campus, where she died.

An autopsy attributed her death to toxic shock syndrome from synthetic materials in the tampon, which are "unsafe for use by menstruating teenaged girls," who do not have the antibodies to resist toxic shock, Katherine Neff says.

Neff demands damages for wrongful death, product liability, negligence and breach of warranty against Playtex.

Neff has also filed a medical malpractice suit against Loyola University Health System and Medical Center, Silver Cross Hospital, Dr. Kathleen Webster and Dr. Jenny Wang, claiming they failed to diagnose and treat Kelly's condition.

Neff is represented in both cases by Richard Burke with Clifford Law.

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