Juul Lawsuit

Guardian Legal Network is not currently processing claims for this lawsuit.

E-cigarettes were first thought to be a great alternative for smokers. They were even considered something that could help people stop smoking harmful nicotine cigarettes. However, it now seems that neither of these thoughts is true. As a matter of fact, illegal and deceptive marketing practices have landed e-cigarettes right in the middle of a national debate. Juul Labs has found its product front and center of national scrutiny.

Juul e-cigarettes are the most popular of all vaping devices on the market. Criticism has been directed at Juul Labs for its part in helping to increase the number of high schoolers using e-cigarettes by 78 percent in 2018.

The Juul manufacturer is a multi-billion-dollar company facing hundreds of lawsuits. More lawsuits are expected to be filed as more and more evidence links Juul to diseases such as pneumonia and other lung disorders. Injured victims are also claiming in their lawsuits that Juul tried to conceal the risks of using its product.

If you have developed pneumonia or a lung disorder after using Juul e-cigarettes, The Guardian Legal Network can connect you with an experienced product liability lawyer.

What is Juul?

Juul is a small, compact vaping device produced by Juul Labs, and its popularity skyrocketed after it was introduced in 2015. By 2017, Juul had become the top-selling e-cigarettes on the market. The design resembles a USB flash drive and makes Juul easy to conceal. Disposable cartridges hold a liquid nicotine salt mixture that, when heated, vaporizes into an aerosol that is inhaled by the user. The removable cartridges, Juulpods, are available in two different concentrations of nicotine and two flavors, tobacco and menthol. Juul made a voluntary decision in 2018 to stop selling its sweeter-flavors such as mango, fruit medley, cucumber, and crème brûlée.

History of e-cigarettes and Juul

Juul quickly rose in popularity to become the most profitable e-cigarette in the United States by late 2017. The following year, Juul Labs procured a 71 percent market share, with sales up nearly 800 percent.

The innovative product’s huge success allowed Juul Labs, based in San Francisco, to expand. However, the wildly successful vaping device has also begun to draw controversy. The device’s popularity among teens has spawned an epidemic of youth addicted to vaping.

The CDC reports that the use of regular nicotine cigarettes among high school students has steadily decreased. The use of e-cigarettes among the same age group, though, has been rising since 2011. An increase in teen vaping occurred in 2017, which was the same year Juul rose to number one among e-cigarettes in the U.S. Given this fact, it should not be surprising that Juul Labs’ future is in danger due to lawsuits and FDA regulations.

Juul’s History Timeline

2017 – Juul Labs began this year as an independent company, apart from Pax Labs. Initially, the company had a slow start. Soon, however, the market share increased from 10 percent to nearly 50 percent, surpassing Vuse, British American Tobacco’s e-cigarette version. Juul became the leading e-cigarette in the U.S.
April 2018 – Wells Fargo estimated Juul Labs to be worth $38 billion, having revenue of $2 billion annually. In April of this year, an FDA investigation began, and thousands of pages of documents were seized from Juul Labs.
May 2018 – The product’s popularity required the company to increase the workforce by approximately 120 new employees monthly, resulting in a five-fold increase in size.
November 2018 – Juul announced it would no longer sell mango, fruit medley, cucumber, and crème brûlée flavored Juul pods.
April 2019 – Federal and local officials are scrutinized and evaluated Juul Labs’ behavior for allegedly targeting youth and teens with questionable marketing techniques, thus increasing vaping’s popularity among this vulnerable age group. The FDA also announced it is looking into a potential safety issue related to seizures tied to vaping.
July 2019 – In a CNBC documentary, Juul Labs CEO Kevin Burns issued an apology to parents of teens who were addicted to the company’s vaping products.
September 2019 – The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California reportedly launched a criminal investigation into Juul.
November 2019 – Juul stopped selling mint-flavored Juul pods, leaving only menthol and tobacco flavors for purchase.

Is Juul Harmful?

Due to the high number of people who are “juuling,” many people have asked if this product has a negative health effect. The answer to this question is complicated, and there are many factors to consider. However, with long term use, e-cigarettes have the potential to be life-threatening. In August 2019, the first death linked to vaping was reported in Illinois.

The extent and number of side effects connected to Juul e-cigarettes have continued to rise as further studies are performed on the device. Vaping has been promoted as a means to help smokers quit regular nicotine cigarettes. However, there is no concrete evidence to prove that e-cigarettes help any more than other methods like nicotine replacement or medication.

Potential Dangers & Side Effects of Juul

Nicotine

Nicotine is the obvious and most prevalent danger of using Juul. The official Juul website has a warning that states, “WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.” Interestingly, Juul’s defining mark that sets it apart from other vaping devices is the larger than average amount of nicotine contained in its cartridges. One cartridge equals one pack of regular cigarettes and provides approximately 200 puffs.

The dangers of nicotine are well documented and include:

Heart problems
Addiction
Stroke
Improper brain development
Osteoporosis
Stomach issues
Attention and memory issues

Toxic Metals

Many people are under the false impression that e-cigarettes are more natural and healthier than regular tobacco cigarettes. However, research has shown that many vaping devices have toxic metals such as lead inside. The Juul device was not included in the testing for toxic metals in the 2015 study.

Another study has proven to be problematic for vaping devices. The publication Pediatrics reports that dangerous e-cigarette toxins have been making their way into the bodies of teenagers.

Gateway to Drugs

While some have assumed that e-cigarettes are merely being used to help addicted individuals relinquish their tobacco cigarette habits, the reality is that the opposite may be true. A Surgeon General report says, “e-cigarette products can be used as a delivery system for cannabinoids and potentially for other illicit drugs.” It is unclear whether a strong link exists between the use of vaping devices and experimenting with more serious drugs down the road.

Juul Lung and Pneumonia Risks

The same publication, Pediatrics, published a report in 2018 about an 18-year-old previously healthy teenager who used an e-cigarette and afterward developed respiratory failure. The report states: “This is the first reported case of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and acute respiratory distress syndrome as a risk of e-cigarette use in an adolescent, and it should prompt pediatricians to discuss the potential harms of vaping with their patients.”

In another 2018 report from European Respiratory Journal, it is shown that e-cigarette vapor “increases pneumococcal adhesion to airway cells” and could cause pneumonia. Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Pediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, warns of the way vaping endangers the lungs by stating, “Together, these results suggest that vaping makes the airways more vulnerable to bacteria sticking to airway lining cells. If this occurs when a vaper gets exposed to the pneumococcal bacterium, this could increase the risk of infection.”

Do You Have a Juul Lawsuit?

Victims of this harmful e-cigarette can file a lawsuit against Juul Labs to claim financial compensation. You may qualify to file a Juul lawsuit if you have suffered one, or a combination, of of the following injuries:

Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis, Pneumonia, or Eosinophilic Pneumonia
Seizures
Stroke
Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction)
Lung Damage
Nicotine poisoning

Find a Juul Lawyer Today

The questionable marketing tactics used to promote e-cigarettes and downplaying the risks of nicotine are a few of the factors causing class-action lawsuits to be filed against Juul Labs. The industry giant is accused of violating federal racketeering laws in its marketing to minors and is further blamed for underselling how extremely addictive vaping can be.

If you or a loved one has experienced severe health issues after using a Juul device, contact The Guardian Legal Network to be connected to an experienced product liability lawyer.

Guardian Legal Network is not currently processing claims for this lawsuit.

References

Angelica LaVito. “Popular e-cigarette Juul’s sales have surged almost 800 percent over the past year”, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/02/juul-e-cigarette-sales-have-surged-over-the-past-year.html. Accessed January 18, 2021.
CDC. “National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS)”, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/surveys/nyts/index.htm/. Accessed January 18, 2021.
Jeniece Pettitt and Adam Isaak. “Inside Juul Labs — how the vaping giant hooked its users and became a $15 billion company”, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/11/how-juul-became-a-15-billion-vaping-giant.html. Accessed January 18, 2021.
Lauren Cooper, “Dangers of Nicotine Are Highlighted in New Report”, Consumer Reports, https://www.consumerreports.org/smoking/dangers-of-nicotine-highlighted-in-report/. Accessed January 18, 2021.