JUUL Labs, Inc. and other manufacturers of electronic cigarettes are facing a myriad of lawsuits over growing concerns related to the health risks. This is especially prevalent among teens and young adults who have now become addicted to nicotine and/or developed respiratory complications such as Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia (BOOP) and pneumonia, heart attacks, seizures, strokes, and other serious injuries which often require hospitalization. Lawsuits have been filed across the nation by persons injured by these vaping products.

The devices work by heating either liquid or crystalline nicotine into an inhalable vapor. These nicotine products are sold in a variety of flavors, including fruity or candy-like combinations that are meant to appeal to teens and non-smokers. In some cases, they are even sold in containers that look like juice boxes, with USB drive ‘look alike’ cartridges and other product and packaging designs children can use to conceal the eCigarette from parents and teachers.

JUUL pods deliver high amounts of nicotine through vaping devices and cartridges and emit very little visible vapor, which has no lingering smell. They were first introduced onto the market in 2016. The results of a highly aggressive marketing campaign aimed at America’s youth saw JUUL dominate the electronic cigarette market with sales jumping from some 2.2 million units in 2016, up to more than 16 million units in 2017, catching the eye of federal regulators and health officials.

JUUL Sales

By December 2017, JUUL sales made up almost 30 percent of total e-cigarette sales, according to a research letter published by investigators from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Health Policy Science and Tobacco Research in October 2018.

According to a study published in the medical journal The BMJ in September 2018, researchers note that JUUL vape pods expose users to a highly concentrated, highly addictive salt form of nicotine, and pose an increased risk of dependency and long-term health problems. In a separate study, also published in late 2018 in JAMA Network Open, researchers from Stanford University drew similar conclusions, especially with respect to at-risk youth.

FDA Raid

In late September 2018, the FDA raided JUUL Labs, seizing thousands of documents related to the company’s marketing and sales practices. The approach appears to mirror strategies followed by the tobacco industry decades ago, with a methodology of creating early Juul addicts who will become permanent customers. The FDA is now working to strengthen regulations and enforcement efforts after the unfortunate deaths and severe health complications that arose from the sale of electronic cigarettes and flavored tobacco products to minors.

Finally, in October 2019 a qui tam lawsuit was filed by a former executive, following numerous deaths of youths as a result of contaminated products. The suit claimed that the company knowing sold at least a million contaminated vape pods to the public.

Current Status Of Litigation

In November 2019 a new Multidistrict Litigation (MDL#2913) was granted and claims against JUUL were consolidated and transferred to the Northern District of California and will be overseen by US District Court Judge William H. Orrick III.  Judge Orrick was an Obama nominee who previously ruled to certify a class of Lidoderm pain patch buyers in antitrust multidistrict litigation against Endo Pharmaceuticals. There are now more than 4,500 lawsuits that have been filed by individuals, school districts, and government entities. The first bellwether trials are scheduled to begin in February 2022.

In related news, in June of 2021, Juul agreed to pay the state of North Carolina $40 million dollars to settle allegations the company aggressively marketed its products to young people. On June 23, 2022 the FDA announced a new ban indicating that a Market Denial Order (MDO) requires that Juul vape pens be removed from the US market. In September 2022 Juul agreed to pay 34 states $440 million to resolve claims its advertising targeted under age youth, while in April 2024, Juul agreed to pay $462 million to settle similar advertising claims with six states and the District of Columbia.

Update

In December 2022 Juul agreed to a settle more than 5,000 lawsuits filed in both the California JCCP and the federal MDL for between $1.2 and $1.7 billion.

Important Links:

1. https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/juul-sales-increase-more-600-year-underscoring
2. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p1002-e-Cigarettes-sales-danger-youth.html
3. https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/28/6/676
4. http://tobacco.stanford.edu/tobacco_main/publications/JUUL_Marketing_Stanford.pdf
5. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fda-ecigarettes/fda-seizes-documents-from-juul-in-latest-e-cigarette-crackdown-idUSKCN1MC26P
6. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/05/health/juul-vaping-fda.html