Families of victims who died of lung disease allegedly after using a humidifier disinfectant from Reckitt Benckiser vowed to take legal action against the British consumer goods maker on Wednesday.

The victims’ families and activists from Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health said they are consulting with a British law firm to file a lawsuit in a British court, accusing Reckitt Benckiser of dodging responsibility.

The announcement came about three weeks after a woman who had used the product since 2001 died of a lung disease last week, pushing the death toll to 142.

Reckitt Benckiser’s humidifier disinfectants have been blamed for claiming 142 lives in Korea for its harmful substance that caused serious lung disease. The Korean government confirmed in April that it found a significant association between the disease and the use of humidifier disinfectant.

“We met with Reckitt Benckiser (officials) three times when we went to England, but the company neither offered a sincere apology nor showed willingness to take responsibility,” the families and activists said at the news conference held in front of the company’s Korean office in Yeouido on Friday afternoon.

“We asked Reckitt Benckiser to create a committee involving victims, the manufacturer and civic organizations (to solve the issue), but it did not accept our suggestion,” they said, lamenting that the British company only shifted responsibility to its Korean office.

Earlier in the month, seven victims’ families and activists including Kang Chan-ho, the father of an 8-year-old girl who now struggles with lung damage after using a similar Danish product called Cefu, visited the headquarters of the British company in London for a protest. They also held demonstrations at major tourist sites like Trafalgar Square and Westminster City Council, calling for an apology. 

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)