April 16, 2019

Stanton A. Glantz, PhD

Class action lawsuit filed against Juul and Altria/Philip Morris builds on past litigation against Big Tobacco

Lauren Lempert and I read the complaint in the class action Juul lawsuit filed in Florida. We think this lawsuit, which echoes the state and federal lawsuits against the tobacco companies, is strong.  Because fraud and strict liability may be harder to prove, the complaint also includes negligence claims.  It also lays a nice groundwork for a claim under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act claim, using similar arguments as the federal 2006 RICO case (described in Sharon Eubanks and my book Bad Acts), and in fact suggesting that Philip Morris/Altria/Juul deliberately used the same advertising and marketing techniques (but amped up with social media and newer advertising strategies than were not available in the earlier case) that were deemed to be RICO violations by Philip Morris and the other cigarette companies.

The fact that Juul studied how they could learn from the cigarette companies by researching how to design their product and market to kids using the UCSF Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library was especially fun.

Because the document disclosure provis ions in Judge Kessler's 2006 RICO ruling against Philip Morris and the other cigarette companies requires that all documents produced in smoking and health litigation through 2021 be made public (so that we can load them into the UCSF Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library) we should get some important insights into Juul and its partnership with Philip Morris/Altria.   Because the case may drag on past 2021, it is important that the Plaintiff's lawyers ensure that making the discovery documents public is part or any judgement or settlement.

The full complaint is only 38 pages long and worth reading; it is here.  A news story on the case is here.

Here is some background and observations on the issues raised in the case that Lauren prepared (with a little editing from me) followed by a summary of causes of action:

  • This is a class-action lawsuit, and the named plaintiffs are a 15-year-old girl in Florida who began using Juul when she was 14, and the girl's parents. In addition to getting addicted to Juul because she did not understand its nicotine and addictive potential, the girl had seizures from swallowing the e-liquid nicotine.
  • The defendants are Juul, Altria, and Philip Morris USA Inc.
  • The lawsuit begins by discussing the "e-cigarette epidemic," relying on FDA and CDC statements. 
  • In the factual allegations, the complaint describes how Juul’s design that deliberately creates and sustains nicotine addiction and cites research on how Juul uses benzoic acid to affect pH and nicotine absorption.
  • In an interesting twist, it says (at paragraph 25, p. 8) that Juul was designed to replicate the feel of traditional cigarettes, and "this design makes it easier for e-cig users to transition to conventional cigarettes because of the similarity."  The Juul/cigarette relationship is usually described the other way -- that because of the similarity, cigarette smokers will more easily transition to using Juuls, and thus it is good for "harm reduction."  By reframing it this way, the case likely reflects reality and kills (or at least puts a huge damper on) the "harm reduction" argument, since it more accurately describes "harm creation."
  • The complaint alleges that Juul fraudulently concealed safety information about how much nicotine Juul contains or delivers, and about how addictive its e-cigs are.  This is consistent with the fact that youth just don't know how much nicotine Juul contains or delivers, let alone understand its risk of addiction (and particular risks for youth). 
  • It states point blank that Juul has not been approved as a smoking therapy or approved as a MRTP, and failed to inform users that Juul has not been found to be safe and effective by FDA for smoking cessation. (paragraphs 38-39, page 11)
  • Starting at the bottom of page 11, section C, the complaint describes how Juul copied Big Tobacco's youth marketing playbook to addict youth to nicotine.  And Juul used the industry documents to study up on this and research how tobacco companies had chemically manipulated nicotine content to maximize delivery.  (See paragraphs 42-43, page 12.)
  • Juul also relied on Stanford Professor Robert Jackler's SRITA website to study traditional tobacco advertisements. (Paragraph 44, page 12.)
  • Starting at page 14, the complaint gives a little history lesson on the Philip Morris 2006 RICO case, and a description of Juul's advertising and marketing strategies, including social media, that target youth.

Causes of action:  

1. Violation of RICO

Because Juul entered into an agreement with Altria in December 2018 (described in pages 17-23), they constitute an "enterprise" that subjects them to RICO.  The complaint alleges that Juul and Altria unlawfully deceived consumers, particularly parents and children, by making material misrepresentations and omissions claiming that they did not market to children, while at the same time engaging in marketing and advertising intending to addict children into becoming lifetime nicotine users (similar to some of the arguments in the 2006  RICO case), and that they used mail, telephone, internet, interstate commerce, etc. to do this.

2.  Fraud

Juul and Altria fraudulently and deceptively sold Juul as non-addictive  or less addictive nicotine products than cigarettes, failed to disclose the highly addictive nature of nicotine salts, failed to disclose that Juul is designed to create and sustain nicotine addiction, and actively concealed the nicotine content and nicotine potency of Juul.

3.  Strict Product Liability -- Failure to Warn

Juul intentionally downplayed, misrepresented, concealed, and failed to warn about the heightened risks of nicotine exposure and addiction, including in advertising and social media communications and on the product label, and failed to warn that the product was not safe for minors and should not be used by them.  Instead, they marketed their products to minors in youth-friendly colors and flavors, and deliberately designed the products to be more palatable to youth and non-smokers by increasing Juul's inhale-ability and by making them more addictive.

4.  Strict Product Liability -- Design Defect

Juul was designed and intended to be used to ingest nicotine and other aerosolized constotuents, and the defendants knew or should have known that ordinary use was harmful or injurious, especially to youth and adolescents.  Juul was designed and marketed to appeal to nonsmokers, youth and adolescents.  Juul is inherently defective because they contain and deliver significantly more nicotine than Juul represents, and is unreasonably dangerous and defective in design because it is made to create and sustain addiction.  Defendants knew or should have known that youths and adolescents would not fully realize the dangerous and addictive nature of Juul and the long-term complications nicotine addiction can present, and that because of their youth, inexperience and/or immaturity of judgment, would recklessly disregard such risks.

5.  Negligence

Defendants did not use reasonable care to ensure that Juul marketing does not target minors, that Juul devices and pods are not sold or distributed to minors, that Juuls are not designed in a manner that makes them unduly attractive to minors or unreasonably dangerous, that Juuls will not addict youth or others to nicotine, and did not adequately warn of reasonably foreseeable adverse events. They knew that minors would be attracted to Juuls, and should have ensured that the products were not sold to minors, but instead induced minors to purchase Juuls.

6.  Unjust Enrichment

As a result of defendants' unlawful and deceptive actions described above, they were enriched at the expense of the plaintiffs and the classes of plaintiffs.

7.  Violation of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act

Florida's Act prohibits unfair methods of competition, unconscionable acts or practices, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices, but, as described above, Defendants engaged in those practices, including: they knowingly developed, sold, ad promoted products that contained nicotine levels in excess of cigarettes with the intention of creating and fostering long-term addiction for minors to continue that addiction into adulthood; selling a product that aggravates nicotine addiction; creating advertising to target youth into using Juuls, and disseminating that advertising through unregulated social media platforms commonly used by youth.

Comments

Comment: 

One might also want to include the public nuisance created by the e-waste and plastic waste due to Juul use. These have been collected from schoolyards, public beaches, storm drains, and other areas where they are discarded as plastic, toxic, non-biodegradable trash. Legislation is now proposed in CA (SB424) that would prohibit the sale of single use plastics such as Juul pods without some sort of mandatory and funded take back program.

Comment: 

I would like more information on this class action lawsuit.
My family has also been greatly impacted by JUUL. My 17 year old son is addicted and has suffered chest pain, migraines and stomach pain. We’ve been to numerous doctors, therapists and psychiatrists. His junior year of high school was disrupted and he was transferred to a different school and placed on a behavior plan. He continued to JUUL risking expulsion. I would like to stand against these companies that have targeted our youth.

Comment: 

You can dowload the actual lawsuit (linked in the blog post).  That tells you how to contact the lawyers.

Comment: 

How do I get involved in this lawsuit ? My daughter was and still is an honor student and now on the deans list as a Sophomore in College. She was able to hide these JUUL cigarettes from me for a several years until she couldn't. I noticed she was stopping to get gas at a station that sold the product. She was getting gas more frequently than I knew she should be. I could see her car was parked not at the pump but at the store front. Yes, I have always monitored her car, my car. I confirmed with a store clerk that she was indeed purchasing the Grape flavored JUUL. Because the look like a USB I had no idea what I was looking for when I searched her room and car. She finally confessed and explained that everyone was using them and that they were just vapor. I know pee test or for the chemical found in the Juul and this has created such a problem for my family. You see here dad is an alcoholic,herion addict and is near death. I have two other daughters that never touch alcohol or smoke anything because they know of the risk because they are their dads daughters. But my youngest who is now 20 won't stop with the vaping. She still like the way they taste and believes they are not harmful. I worry because of her inherited genes that it won't stop with JUUL. I am pissed that this has gone on right under a careful parents eyes. Her dad and I have been divorced for 15 years and I am ready to fight this. What can I do ?

Comment: 

Someone should start another class action lawsuit against juul for selling a product that is defective more than half the time. Three out of every four pods I purchase week into my mouth or burn too hot or don't burn hot enough. Juul will not respect their customers enough to offer a refund for their battery which can only be used with their defective pods.

Comment: 

Daughter, Senior in HS, just returned from Beach Week with her fellow classmates. The number of students now JUUL'ing if unbelievable. I literally believe less than 5% of these adolescents would have ever tried let along become addicted to tobacco products, are all now completely addicted to nicotine (higher concentration) being delivered by ALTRIA/JUUL pods. This was 100% designed to invite new users to the category, to get them quickly and heavily addicted. It is literally a joke to compare JUUL'ing vs. the harm of smoking tobacco when none of these kids would have smoked tobacco. What is the recourse? What type of addiction treatment are they liable for? This is a HUGE problem, much larger than most parents/administrators can possibly imagine. Shame on BIG tobacco, and shame on the ATF and FDA for not jumping on this earlier.

Comment: 

I would like to be a witness for my 14 year old who is addicted and trining to quit multiple times with severe vomiting shaking headaches for weeks

Comment: 

You can dowload the actual lawsuit (linked in the blog post).  That tells you how to contact the lawyers.

Comment: 

My son age 16 had a seizure and it was just after he vapped. No medical issue before.

Comment: 

Hello. My son also suffered 2 seizures from smoking a JUUL. He had an emergency visit, a visit with a neurologist, an MRI and a 23 hour EEG. All concluding that it was caused by the JUUL. Any suggestions on how to help the campaign against ecigs? Thank you for any help!

Comment: 

How do you join this class action?

Comment: 

At 15 years old my son got hooked on Juuls. I hate that he was told there was no risk with vaping. And that it was no way near as bad as smoking. It has changed his personality. If he is without it he gets angry. Before we can leave the house he runs to his room to vape. I've taken all of the stuff millions of times. Only for a new device to show up the next day. The vaping industry is killing an entire generation.

Comment: 

If we had a case I would sue but don't know how to prove this. I am a nurse and I will tell you my 18 year old for the last few years has been addicted to Juul. The problem is todays kids are stressed out big time and they feel some kinda relief when they do this then they become addicted. I am absolutely sick because in the last year year and a half, our son has had a racing heart and chest pressure that landed us in Childrens ER proven to be nothing, he has had dizzy spells, has had chills and had a crazy vomiting episode that unusually his family never caught (it usually goes through our house of 6) and this last year he has had a head CT because he has been presenting with weird neurologic symptoms, where one side of his body becomes weak like a stroke, he has also started having debilitated migraines. I am sick as his mom because his lungs were immature when he was born and I always worry about his lungs period because of this. When I saw the news story on that gentleman that ended up on a vent... due to lung inflammation he had some symptoms my son had just the other day.... I am so scared this will be him soon. I really wonder if we should try to see if he can do rehab,,, but its not considered a drug

Comment: 

Forget about us older people I am in my 40s and never smoked a cigarette in my life until I found a jewel that was supposed to be safer. Every time I try to quit I get nauseous I have bad headaches as well as stomach pain. My chest hurts every time I breathe in and out. If there’s anyone out there that can help me as far as a lawyer is concerned I would be open to suggestions. You can reach me at <<email deleted>>

Comment: 

I would like to be involved in the Lawsuit , my husband bought us each one and my chest started hurting .. Then yesterday i received coupons for 10.00 dollars of.. I Quit after 2 days.

Comment: 

I'VE BEEN NOTICING LATELY MY THROAT IS SORE AND WHEN I INHALE ON MY JUUL I LIKE GAG AND COUGH TERRIBLY I'M 76 YRS. THOUGHT THIS IS SAFER THAN GOING BACK TO CIGARETTES WHICH I QUIT Mach 2 1998 BUT NOW REALIZE I'M WORSE OFF.

Comment: 

I have suffered a heart attack and bypass surgery. I had been using the juul for about 6-8 months. I’m sure this is what Caused my attack please let me know how I could speak with someone about this matter thank you

Comment: 

How do I get on the class action suit I vaped to try stop smoking and caught pneumonia and was in hospital for days and almost ended up passing away

Comment: 

I used Juul for two years on and off and I had a brain bleed causing headaches for two years. I suffered a subdural hematoma and had brain surgery. The doctor that did the CT Scan said to me, "you better stop smoking young lady" as he showed me my scan results and rushed me into emergency surgery.
My email address is <<email deleted>>

Comment: 

After a long period of time, my friends n family as well as I myself, had noticed an erratic change in my behavior n how I felt physically, after months, n then over a year of smoking juul devices, and e cigarettes,as well. Along with my voice turning raspy sounding too.

Comment: 

I used Juul from 2014 to 2015 and experienced heightened lung issues such as trouble breathing and tightness of the lungs, which included shortness of breath and dizziness. I experienced mood swings, anger issues, depression and even went as far as being hospitalized for days due to attempted suicide. I have never had those kind of issues or thoughts and haven't experienced them since quitting use if the product. I would like to join the class action suit and be able to help others and myself recover from the negligence of Juul products.

Comment: 

My GRANDSON has been smoking juul, since then he has had a constant cough, He has no health ins.he also was born with colasped lungs.....Me myself have smoked juul, thinking it could help me to stop smoking cigarettes, since I've smoked junk I've been diagnosed with COPD. along with I've had nothing but continuously c o.k laughing up flimsy th as t I never had that problem from smoking cigarettes HOW FO J GET BOTH OF US IN THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT

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