OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – The household of a 5-year-old boy killed in a hyperbaric chamber explosion at an Oakland County healthcare facility has retained an legal professional.

Thomas Cooper was killed on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, when the hyperbaric chamber he was receiving remedy in on the Oxford Heart in Troy exploded. Cooper’s mom was additionally injured.

Fieger Regulation mentioned the agency has been retained to symbolize the household of the kid who was killed, and the kid’s mom. A lawsuit has not been filed.

“That is an unimaginable tragedy, and our hearts are with the household as they navigate this immeasurable loss,” mentioned James Harrington, Managing Associate of Fieger Regulation. “We ask that the general public and media respect the household’s privateness at the moment. We’re investigating each side of this matter and can report our findings in due time. The security of youngsters ought to at all times be the highest precedence, and this incident raises critical considerations about hyperbaric chambers and the oversight and regulation of hyperbaric remedies.”

A GoFundMe has been began to boost cash to assist the household.

—> Hyperbaric chambers: What they’re, what they deal with, dangers, and accreditation

What’s hyperbaric oxygen remedy?

In response to the FDA, hyperbaric oxygen remedy (HBOT) is thought for treating scuba and deep-sea divers affected by the speedy change in stress round them.

The FDA mentioned it will also be used to deal with different well being issues, together with carbon monoxide poisoning and diabetic foot ulcers. The elevated air stress within the chamber helps the lungs accumulate extra oxygen, which might get extra oxygen to the tissues that want, and assist the physique heal and struggle sure infections.

As of July 2021, the FDA has solely cleared hyperbaric chambers for 13 problems. HBOT is being studied for different circumstances, together with COVID-19, however the FDA has not cleared or licensed using any HBOT machine to deal with something aside from the 13 problems listed.

As of Jan. 31, 2025, the Oxford Heart had greater than 100 circumstances listed on its web site within the hyperbaric oxygen remedy web page as “circumstances handled.”

The FDA recommends those that want remedy get it at an accredited facility saying, “Explosions and fires have occurred in HBOT chambers that haven’t been reviewed by the FDA and are situated at unaccredited services.”

The FDA mentioned the power ought to be accredited by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. In response to the UHMS map, solely two places in Michigan have been accredited and they’re in Grand Rapids and Niles.

In an announcement to Native 4, the Michigan Division of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) mentioned that state legislation doesn’t require hyperbaric oxygen services to be licensed or regulated by LARA.

The Oxford Heart opened in 2008. The hearth division mentioned the power might be closed “till additional discover” whereas they proceed to research the explosion.

The Oxford Heart launched the next assertion on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025:

“That is an exceptionally tough day for all of us.

“As legislation enforcement officers have shared, at our location in Troy, Michigan this morning, a fireplace began inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The kid being handled in that chamber didn’t survive and the kid’s mom was injured.

“The security and wellbeing of the youngsters we serve is our highest precedence. Nothing like this has occurred in our greater than 15 years of offering any such remedy.

“We have no idea why or how this occurred and can take part in all the investigations that now must happen.”