Juul Lawsuits: What to Await in 2024?

Vaping has overtaken Americans like a storm. The ongoing Juul lawsuits have raised the alarm among Americans about the vaping epidemic that has swept over the country’s youth. Parents of children and youths in America should be beware of electronic cigarette vaping by their kids. Carelessness can even claim lives.

Are you or your loved one a victim to vaping epidemic? Reach out to an expert attorney to know the prospects of your claim.

A pro medical record review company to shoulder your medical record review will fortify your claim.

This blog takes you through the effects of e-cigarettes on the youth, the complications, and the status of the Juul lawsuit 2023 against e-cigarettes.

When many high school and middle school students and young adults became addicted to the appealing flavors of Juul Labs Inc.’s e-cigarettes or vape pods, the state of North Carolina launched an investigation in 2018.

North Carolina was the first state to bring the vaping behemoth before the law in 2019 to entice even middle school students with fruit-flavored vaping devices.

PAX Labs was the original name of Juul Labs, Inc. However, it underwent a transformation in 2017 when it was renamed Juul Labs Inc. The tobacco giant entered the e-cigarette market by claiming to be marketing a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes.

Altria Inc. had invested around $12.8 billion by acquiring 35% of stakes in Juul in December 2018. However, after all the lawsuits, Altria has cut down its stakes in Juul, and at present, it has only stakes worth $1.7 billion.

To attract the youth, Juul created small attractive USB-like devices with sweet flavors such as mango, cucumber, mint, etc. These electronic cigarettes are blamed for containing highly addictive nicotine, which has resulted in a youth vaping epidemic.

Juul has found a great leap in the initial stage, with around 70% of the e-cigarette market under their control with a $38 billion market value. Being defamed by the multimillion lawsuits that came in line, Juul had found de-escalation in their sales. It had a nosedive from the peak in sales in 2020 to a $5 billion market value.

The most unexpected blow to Juul was when its formal financial executive Siddharth Breja, came against Juul with a lawsuit. He alleged that he was terminated for intimating the company of a serious issue that they had sold around a million contaminated mint-flavored e-cigarettes.

Statistics

According to the statistical data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2020, around 3 million high school students and 600,000 middle school students were using electronic cigarettes. Among them, around 83 percent of them used flavored e-cigarettes.

Though the governments have restricted the selling of e-cigarettes to youngsters below 21 years, the tobacco manufacturing companies and marketing agencies never stopped targeting the youth. That’s the reason for the vaping epidemic.

However, thanks to the efforts taken by the state governments and the e-cigarette litigations like the Juul lawsuits filed, the number has decreased a little. In 2021, approximately 1.70 million high school students and 300,000 middle school students were using e-cigarettes.

Around 85 percent of them were addicted to flavored e-cigarettes. The most liked flavor was fruit by the high and middle school students, and candy, desserts, mint, and menthol trailed behind it. Among these numbers, approximately 5.7% of high school students and 12.5% of middle school students used Juul products.

Juul E-cigarettes

Juul is accessible in the market in two different nicotine strengths. The 5 percent of the 0.7 milliliters has 50 milligrams, whereas the 3 percent has 23 milligrams per vaping pod. Different studies have proved that the nicotine level in each Juul vape pod is 39.3 to 48.3 mg. A 1 ml vaping pod can give 100 puffs, equal to 10 cigarettes.

The different flavors used are Cool Mint, Fruit Medley, Creme Brulee, and Virginia Tobacco. Juul claims that they use non-tobacco sourced “nicotine salts”.

Juul uses nicotine salts, propylene glycol, and glycerin solvents to form the vaping fluid. It is said to have contaminants in the liquids. These ingredients react and become toxic to the human body when heated up.

However, studies have revealed that Juul e-pods have various toxic chemical compounds that Juul does not list. Though it claims to use non-nicotine products, Juul pods are equal to traditional cigarettes when checked 10 minutes after smoking. Juul pods have highly addictive nicotine in them.

Health Hazards of E-cigarettes

It is said that vaping e-cigarettes is less dangerous than smoking normal cigarettes. However, even vaping is not safe. E-cigarettes contain nicotine juice extracted from tobacco. The nicotine juice, the flavoring agents, and the chemicals are heated enough to form the vapor to inhale. The vapor that comes out would contain many chemicals that could be toxic.

The use of unknown chemicals and additives makes the vaping juice in the e-pods more hazardous to use. The long-term addiction to e-cigarettes was found to be causing defects in brain development and long-term lung diseases.

The common symptoms like persisting cough, chest pain, breathing difficulties, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, seizures, and fatigue are like the hidden mammoth snake’s tail. Many more are yet to be revealed.

It is said that e-cigarettes can damage the brain, lungs, and heart and can cause tumors. Premature births and stillbirths occur in the case of pregnant women.

Don’t think that the highly addictive nicotine side effects are causing health issues. It is the addictive chemicals in the e-pods that are adding fuel to the fire by damaging the DNA and incapacitating the body to repair the injuries.

E-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI) appeared in 2019. Many patients got admitted to the hospitals for vaping-related lung injuries, which alerted the physicians. The tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in electronic cigarettes contributes to EVALI.

Juul Lawsuits

Juul is one of the ten companies facing product liability and multi-district class action lawsuits in 2022. At the beginning of this blog, we saw how the Juul lawsuits started surfacing in 2019. After North Carolina brought Juul before the court, many other Juul lawsuits came in procession.

As per a report in July 2021, Juul was facing around 2300 Juul lawsuits all around the United States, joined as multidistrict litigation (MDL), as MDL- 2913.

When more than 42 people lost their lives to lung illnesses after the complications of vaping, California and Los Angeles County proceeded with many a class action lawsuit against Juul. The main allegation behind the California Juul lawsuits was that they provided samples at events, concerts, street festivals, and movie screenings.

Juul has failed to ensure that its products are not sold to minors. It has sent marketing emails to the address of the kids without confirming their ages. It also has failed to give warning as the chemicals may cause congenital disabilities or reproductive issues.

An eighteen-year-old named Daniel David Wakefield was vaping Juul vape pods from his 15th year and was addicted to nicotine. He had acquired a lung illness and succumbed to death due to breathing issues. His mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging Juul for the premature death of her son.

It was alleged that he was attracted by the social media ads and email marketing Juul. Its sleek design and different flavors lured him to use that. Nicotine patches had to be used when he was hospitalized to manage him. This single piece of evidence stands for the gruesome after-effects of Juul’s vape pods.

As per the current information, thirteen states and many school districts have filed mass tort litigations against Juul Labs, Inc. for making teenagers addicted to the highly concentrated nicotine in the e-cigarettes masked under pleasing flavors. Even using it a couple of times make them addicted to it.

Recently, Juul has appealed for the depreciation of the two lawsuits filed by the Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. A federal judge in California has disavowed deprecation of those bellwether lawsuits.

They have filed Juul lawsuits under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), claiming that Juul has aimed at minors through enticing marketing strategies and appealing flavored e-cigarettes that attracted the tribal youth.

As per the latest update, around 24 Juul lawsuits are going to be trialed in 2022. The first of them is scheduled for February 22, and the rest will follow on March 28, May 9, and August 1.

The result of these bellwether lawsuits will definitely reflect on the other settlements waiting to be trialed. Therefore, all the plaintiffs are in great expectation to get the desired outcome in this first pool of Juul lawsuits 2022.

The lawsuit filed by the Natrona County School District has been chosen as one of twelve bellwether cases as a guide for attorneys to take over the vaping giant. Whether Juul reaches a settlement or prepares for a court trial, in this case, will indicate how Juul will handle the 250 other Juul vape lawsuits filed against it.

The date for the trial in this matter going to be held in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming has yet to be determined. The San Francisco Unified School District’s bellwether case is set for trial in northern California federal district court in June 2023.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools has joined dozens of other school districts, including Chicago, in suing Juul Labs, and dozens of them were represented by Federico’s law firm.

The school system’s attorney, Phil Federico, told The Wall Street Journal on 05/02/2022 that the five-count lawsuit alleges Juul Labs is marketing its products to children with cotton candy and tooty fruity flavored products.

Nathan, an eighth-grader, claims that every time he enters a bathroom at his school, he sees students skipping class and vaping, causing the bathroom to fog up. A Northeast High School student stated that anyone of any age could easily purchase vapes because a lot of places do not check for the age of the buyer.

Juul Settlements

In the Juul lawsuits 2021, only two cases reached the final settlement. North Carolina was the first state to reach a settlement against the vaping giant Juul Labs, Inc. in June 2021. The North Carolina attorney Josh Stein had said that Juul has “lit the spark and fanned the flames of a vaping epidemic among our children.”

Juul has sought the settlement in haste to avoid a Juul ban from the FDA. However, it has not admitted to the allegations raised against it. Juul has to pay $40 million to settle the case.

In November 2021, Arizona became the second state to reach a Juul lawsuit settlement of $14.5 million against Juul for marketing e-cigarettes to the underage.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich informed that $12.5 million would be used for anti-addiction programs out of the settlement. The rest of the money would be used for consumer protection funds and the expenses for litigation.

Latest Juul Lawsuit Settlement Updates

Here’s an update on Juul’s most recent Juul lawsuit compensation with the state of Washington. It has agreed to pay $22.5 million as a Juul lawsuit payout in April 2022 and has pledged to carry out the mandated reforms.

In 2020, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Juul for targeting minors in Washington state. He accused the vaping behemoth of deceiving young people about the addictive nature of their product.

Juul has been asked to remove all appealing product advertisements on social media. It must monitor consumer ages and ensure that strategies are in place to prevent minors from obtaining vaping pods. Before delivering the product, the youngsters’ identity should be verified.

Juul must send undercover agents to ensure that all retailers are selling Juul products in accordance with the restrictions.

Attorney General Brian Frosh announced a tentative agreement to enter a multi-state settlement with JUUL Labs on September 8th, signaling a significant victory for public health activists throughout Maryland.

The deal is expected to be worth $438 million. Juul tentatively agreed to pay that to settle probes by almost 30 states into possible underage marketing practices. The company made no admission of wrongdoing.

Juul has also agreed, as part of the Juul lawsuits settlement, to restrict sales and marketing techniques that might appeal to teenagers. In this multi-state Juul compensation settlement, Hawaii is receiving $6.8 million.

Finally, the cat is let out of the bag! Juul has finally agreed to settle around 10,000 Juul lawsuits consolidated under Northern California for $1.2 billion, reports the Bloomberg News. They cited the matter from people familiar with the fact.

Earlier, Juul announced the settlement but did not disclose the settlement amount as per the court process. However, the Juul settlement amount disclosed by the New York Times is $1.7 billion.

It’s still unclear what the exact settlement amount is. However, it is reported to be three times higher than all the Juul settlements so far. Let’s hope the victims of the Juul lawsuits will get their paychecks in early 2023. We are still unsure of the Juul class action lawsuit payout per person.

As per the latest update, in January 2023, U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco approved a class action settlement for $255 million to settle cases against Juul for deceptive marketing.

March 2023 update

Juul came to a $23.8 million settlement with the City of Chicago for deceptive marketing and selling vaping products to underage users.

As of mid-March 2023, there were around 5,970 lawsuits in the MDL-2913, including class actions and individual personal injury litigation from four states.

April 2023 Update 

The New York Times reported that Juul reached a massive settlement of $462 million to resolve most of the Juul lawsuits in April 2023. This includes the states like California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and New York. California gets the lion’s share of $176 million and New York follows with a $113 million.

May 2023

Many school districts have come forward with Juul vaping lawsuits and some of them already started getting settlements.

The Hendry County School District’s lawsuit filed in September 2022 along with some other school districts resulted in more than $600 million settlement. The Hendry County School District unanimously approved to accept a share of more than $289,000 as part of the class action settlement.

Another deceitful marketing claim by Minnesota reached a settlement of $60.5 million in May 2023. These claims alleged that Juul’s deceiving marketing practices had misled the American youngsters.

Significant Update on Juul Settlement October 2023

Along with the previously approved $255 million settlement, another $45 million settlement was added and the Juul settlement payout date was extended to allow more affected victims to file claims. This $300 million settlement included the economic damages for the claims alleging overpayment for the Juul vaping pods. Other personal injury claims are still pending.

As per the update on juulclassaction.com, on September 19, 2023, Juul settlement has achieved this final approval of $300 million. The victims who wish to get payment from the settlement are asked to file their claims before the deadline of February 5, 2024.

Juul Class Action Lawsuit Update November 2023 

The Warren Consolidated Schools Board of Education agreed to accept $101,494 as part of the Scholl district settlement with Altria.

Juul Class Action Lawsuit January 2024 Updates

Let’s wait patiently to know the Juul class action lawsuit payout date. As the year 2023 came to an end, Juul class action payout date will likely to be set in the first half of 2024. When will the juul settlement be paid? Probably, the consumers included in the settlement will get their Juul settlement payout date in 2024.

February 2024

As of February 1, 2024, there are 5,108 claims pending in Juul MDL 2913.

As the deadline to claim to be the part of the $300 million settlement on February 5, 2024 had now passed. The plaintiffs who had opted out of the settlement before February 5 are eligible to file similar new claims. Contact your attorney to the deadlines for making a new claim.

March 2024 Updates

As of March 1, 2024, there were 5,108 lawsuits pending in the Juul lawsuit MDL.

April 2024 Updates

The caseload of MDL-2913 amounts to approximately 5,102 unresolved lawsuit as of April 1, 2024.

Restrictions on E-cigarettes and Juul

Jull had faced a rough phase after the series of lawsuits filed against it. It has to pull most of the flavored e-pods from the market after the reciprocal from the regulators.

In September 2021, the FDA announced a denial for marketing the flavored e-cigarettes and vaping pods, including Juul, as there was no evidence that it would help adult smokers to quit smoking and for misleading the younger generation into smoking. Juul had to add a warning label on the vaping pod packages that it contained nicotine, and it’s an addictive chemical.

FDA issued a warning to Juul for violating federal regulations. Juul had not applied for approval for producing and selling its vaping pods as a safe alternative to traditional smoking. It had asked Juul to provide more details on the nicotine salts in e-fluids and proof for its claims.

Following the warning from FDA, Juul stopped most of its advertising in the U.S. and introduced a new age-screening system in the stores to restrict minors from getting the e-cigarettes. They sponsored research that proved that more than 40 percent of adult smokers quit smoking because of Juul’s e-cigarettes. We aren’t sure how far this is real. However, the long-term damages are yet to be researched.

The FDA was reviewing marketing applications from Juul and hundreds of other companies in response to anti-tobacco groups’ requests to impose restrictions on products that have contributed to the youth vaping epidemic over the last decade.

As per the latest update on June 23rd, 2022, the FDA denied Juul’s application to continue selling its vaping device and four types of liquid pods: Virginia-tobacco-flavored and menthol-flavored pods with nicotine levels of 5% and 3%, respectively, and asked it to stop selling all of its products.

Juul filed an emergency motion with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeking a stay of the FDA ban’s implementation. On June 24th, a three-judge panel of the appeals court granted Juul a temporary reprieve and halted the FDA ban. The court has asked for an explanation from the FDA.

Let’s wait and see what stand the court is going to take in this. Stay with us. We will update you soon.

A well-drafted medical record review can change the course of your lawsuit.

Final Thoughts

Though Juul has withdrawn all flavored e-pods from the market other than tobacco and menthol-flavored ones, it is not in a safe zone from being expelled from the e-cigarette market. There are chances for the FDA to take stringent action against Juul.

We are not sure what’s going to happen to the past decade’s king of the e-cigarette market in Juul lawsuits 2023. But for sure, the ongoing and new lawsuits that are arising are like the “sword of Damocles” dangling on its head.  It has to face the consequences of its pernicious actions.

As we have seen throughout the blog, it is evident that Juul has tried vigorously marketing their e-cigarettes among youngsters, including minors, through social media, emails, and other marketing strategies. This misleading marketing made innocent children addicted to highly concentrated nicotine.

We should thank the school districts and state governments for taking the culprit before the law in time to harness its giant leaps. If you are affected due to Juul e-cigarettes as a minor, you can contact a Juul lawyer and either join a Juul class action lawsuit or pursue a personal injury lawsuit.

Stay tuned with us to know if any settlement is made and what may be the Juul class action lawsuit payout per person. We will give the Juul lawsuit updates here from time to time.

As a tail end, I wish to draw your attention to something related to this too.  When the FDA is reviewing the adverse effects of existing e-cigarettes to regulate them, synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes are silently acquiring the shelves to be sold.

Since synthetic nicotine does not come under the existing categories of the FDA, the well-wishers want the FDA to categorize them under drugs and regulate them too. We are not sure what chemicals and illicit additives are used to prepare the synthetic nicotine.

However, I feel “prevention is better than cure”. Let’s see how FDA is going to bell the cat in 2024.

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Juul enchanted the youth to use its vaping pods and caused a vaping epidemic among the American youth.#juullawsuits #juullawsuitsettlements #juullawsuits2022 #juullawsuitsettlements2022 pic.twitter.com/iDLaAozguy

— LezDo MedLegal (@LezDoMedLegal) November 4, 2022