Find a report from an authoritative source confirming this (like a coroners report) and I'd maybe believe it. Even if there was any media coverage at all it could be looked into. I really think it's unlikely something like that would go unreported, don't you? The vested interest groups (the "antis") would be all over it, even if it was not proven. But it stinks of urban legend to me. "Friend of a friend" is a typical urban legend/hoax plot
device as it adds credibility to a tale, but without any specifics being mentioned. See
snopes.com: Urban Legends Reference Pages which is an authority on urban legends, and you will see just how many of them use this phrase.
In short, no I have never heard of it. I also think it is likely to be impossible. "Battery acid" does not tend to leak slowly from lithium
batteries as far as I'm aware.
Everything You Need To Know About Primary Battery Leakage - ein Knol-Artikel von Floyd Hacker It's common in zinc carbon and to a lesser extent alkaline batteries that have been completely run down or gone beyond their shelf life. All commercial models I've heard of use lithium batteries. Also you're not directly sucking on a battery, they either have sealed connectors (common on manual switch designs) which means that there is no opportunity for anything leaking from the battery to go into the atomiser, or at least the battery is somewhat isolated from the battery in auto models (switch, electronics etc are in between the battery and the atty connection). I'd also speculate if it was possible, that any sort of battery leakage that was getting into the vapour would taste foul and any reasonable person would immediately stop using it, and not continue taking deep lung inhales allowing it to "burn their lungs out".
Batteries can be a cause of concern in PV's (there are many issues on battery safety on this forum) but not as far as I'm aware for this reason. Mishandled lithium batteries tend to end their life in a more spectacular fashion that just leaking!
