JUUL Vaporizer Lawsuit

• The FDA reported in August 2019 that it received over 120 cases of seizures after people used vaping devices between 2010 and 2019
• As of September 21, 2019, JUUL Labs Inc. has been defending against 56 JUUL vaporizer lawsuits in federal court.
• JUUL Labs Inc. marketed its products to minors who had no prior experience of nicotine use, and led them to believe the product was safer and healthier and an alternative to smoking.
• Individuals who are fighting life-threatening diseases linked with JUUL usage have taken out JUUL vaporizer lawsuits to receive compensation for the damages they sustained to their health because of JUUL Labs’ false marketing.
• The fight against JUUL is now known as “Big Tobacco 2.0” since it is reminiscent of the 1990s Big Tobacco lawsuits and plaintiffs are filing similar claims.

JUUL vaporizers, also known as vapes, are the unchallenged leaders in the electronic cigarette market. JUUL products are created by JUUL Labs Inc., which spun off from Pax Labs in 2017.

The company makes e-cigarettes that are operated by lithium ion batteries and are shaped like slim and sleek USB drives, which can be recharged on a wall or laptop charger within one hour. These devices come with JUUL pods filled with aerosol liquid that contains glycerol, propylene glycol, nicotine, benzoic acid, and artificial flavors.

JUUL e-cigarettes have become so popular that they dominate 68% of the e-cigarette market. Although there are several brands of electronic cigarettes, JUUL currently leads the pack. Since its inception, the company has marketed its products as being safer and more pleasant-tasting alternatives to traditional cigarettes. JUUL's marketing statement said that it aims to “improve the lives of the world’s 1 billion adult smokers by eliminating cigarettes.”

However, it failed to adequately warn its customers, many of which are teenagers, of the health risks of the products. In fact, until November 2018, the packaging of JUUL products did not disclose the fact that it contained harmful and addictive nicotine. Aside from that, its ingredient propylene glycol has been known to cause airway injuries and inflammation.

In late 2018, news agencies reported the rapid rise of JUUL addiction among teenagers, which impacts mood, brain development, and social relationships. Since then, dozens of lawsuits have been filed against JUUL that complain of damages, compensatory damages, contaminated pods, and even wrongful death.

As of October 2019, 18 deaths and over 1,000 cases of lung injuries associated with e-cigarettes have been reported. Initially, it was not known whether those harmed used JUUL vape products; however, later reports stated that different brands of e-cigarettes were used by the affected teens and young adults. This means that the use of JUUL vape products needs to be carefully studied, and the e-cigarettes should be limited.

JUULs vaporizers work by using an internal heating system that heats up flavored oils, which come in single-use JUUL pods to create vapor that can be easily inhaled. According to the company, this mechanism prevents the lithium ion batteries from overheating, exploding, and causing injury to the user, which has been a problem for other electronic cigarettes.

JUUL vape devices are very easy to use as they do not have to set any controls. All you need is a single-use JUUL pod containing the aerosol formula that is attached to the device. The device can then heat the liquid inside, turning it into vapor, which you can inhale. Because of its easy to use method, JUUL devices are very popular with the younger generation.

Many of the oils in JUUL vape devices contain substances that are very harmful when inhaled. For several years, the company marketed its e-cigarettes and flavored oils without warning consumers about the dangers.

Dangers of Nicotine

One of the biggest dangers posed by electronic cigarettes is nicotine poisoning. Nicotine is a highly toxic substance that can cause negative changes in your blood pressure and blood sugar levels, promote a buildup of plaque in the arterial walls, and cause ulcers, among other adverse health issues.

Aside from this, nicotine is highly addictive, and users develop a dependency on the substance very quickly. Once hooked, users face physical and mental symptoms when they are forced to stop using it, even if they had been using nicotine for a short period of time. Weaning off nicotine is an expensive and painstaking process, and requires many people to stay in rehabilitation centers during the treatment.

The danger of nicotine addiction is even more so with JUUL vape devices as its oils contain much higher levels of nicotine than other e-cigarettes. The company states that it did that to recreate the experience of smoking traditional cigarettes, so that the transition to e-cigarettes is smoother. As it stands, though, JUUL oils contain 5 % nicotine, which is over twice the amount of nicotine found in other e-cig brands. This amount is equivalent to a pack of twenty cigarettes, which increases the risk of addiction.

Additionally, some of the nicotine in traditional cigarettes is lost to filtration. However, JUUL vape devices do not have filters, which means users are exposed to a higher dose of nicotine.

Another reason why JUUL vape devices are particularly harmful is because of their patented nicotine formula. While other e-cigarette brands use freebase nicotine, JUUL uses nicotine salts that have a structure very similar to that of natural nicotine found in tobacco leaves. This not just makes the vapor less irritable, but it also makes it easily absorbable in the bloodstream.

Since teenagers often use multiple pods during a single sitting, they may inhale dangerous levels of nicotine, which can have immediate as well as long-term consequences.

Dangers of Benzoic Acid

Another dangerous ingredient that is present in larger amounts in JUUL pods is benzoic acid; a single JUUL pod contains 44.8 milligrams of benzoic acid per milliliter. If you consider that other competitor brands use benzoic acid in the range of 0.2 to 2 mg/mL, this is an astronomical difference.

Benzoic acid can cause cough, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal stress if users are exposed to it constantly, according to the CDC. JUUL uses a higher amount of benzoic acid to increase the potency of its nicotine salts.

Since JUUL Labs Inc. market the vape devices as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, they have become popular with both adults and teenagers.

Adults

Adults wishing to quit smoking transition to JUULs in the hope that it will help them break their lifelong habit. Since the company has not disclosed that its products contain nicotine until last year, adults used to think JUUL may be a worthwhile trade-off. However, now they know that JUUL not only contains nicotine, but the substance is present in a much greater level in its oils than in any other brand.

In fact, a 2017 research found that non-smoking adults who used JUUL were four times more likely to take up traditional smoking after using the vaping device for just 18 months.

Developing Fetuses

Pregnant women who think it is safe to use JUUL while they are expecting should know that nicotine is highly toxic to fetuses.

Children and Teenagers

The biggest impact of JUUL, however, seems to have been observed in the preteen and teenage market. JUUL vape devices have become very common in teenage hangouts and even schools. Since JUUL devices are easily concealable because of their USB-style shape and odorless fumes, it makes it even more attractive to teens who can easily use them in public places.

The CDC estimated that 3.5 million middle-school and high-school children used an e-cigarette at least once in 2018. Since most American children and teenagers do not smoke, this means that when they use JUUL, they become addicted to nicotine for the very first time.

Additionally, JUUL Labs Inc. uses bright colors, fruity flavors, and youthful graphics in its promotional material prompting healthcare officials to claim that the company's marketing strategies are devised to target the youth market.

Some studies also revealed that 90% of children and teenagers don't even know that JUUL products contain nicotine and other toxic substances, and they only think they are consuming sweet-flavored vapors.

Although federal regulations restrict the sales of JUUL vape products to individuals 21 years or older, it still remains very popular among middle-school and high-school students, and even elementary school students.

Once hailed as the healthier alternatives to cigarettes, electronic cigarettes have now become a public hazard, as apparent by the multitude of reports citing lung disease, seizures, and death in people who use them.

Here are some of the dangers and symptoms that people who use JUUL products suffer from:

Depression and Psychological Complications

People who use JUUL may avoid a few of the carcinogenic ingredients found in traditional cigarettes, but the vape devices themselves are extremely addictive. Because of their high concentration of nicotine, people who use JUUL suffer from moodiness, angry outbursts, withdrawals, depression, lack of social interaction, impaired impulse control, and other mental and emotional issues. In fact, a study also found that JUUL can increase the risk of depression by 50%.

Additionally, people who use nicotine before the age of 25 run the risk of altering the development of the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that is responsible for logic, decision making, and personality development.

Heart Disease

A May 2019 research study by the Stanford School of Medicine shows that the oils in JUUL can cause an increased risk of heart disease as the ingredients negatively impact the endothelial cells that line the insides of the blood vessels. Researchers found that these cells exhibited DNA damage and cellular death when exposed to e-cigarette liquids. The damage occurred even when the nicotine was removed, indicating that other ingredients in the e-liquid were also very damaging to health. Interestingly, menthol and cinnamon-flavored JUUL were found to be the most harmful.

Another study found that people who use e-cigarettes are 56% more likely to have a heart attack and 30% more likely to have a stroke than people who don’t vape.

Seizures

High amounts of nicotine can induce convulsive seizures. JUUL contains a much higher nicotine volume than other e-cigarettes at 59 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter of liquid. For several years, JUUL did not disclose that its products contained any nicotine at all, let alone a much higher amount than other brands.

The FDA reported in August 2019 that it received over 120 cases of seizures after people used vaping devices between 2010 and 2019. More seriously, the agency reported some seizures occurred after just a few puffs.

Reproductive Complications

It is a well-known fact that smoking during pregnancy can result in premature births, stillbirths, low birth weight, and birth defects. The use of JUUL products may present the same amount of danger.

Babies who are born to mothers who consume nicotine during pregnancy may have lifelong lung, brain, and other development issues. Nicotine and the chemicals in JUUL oils may make it harder for women to get pregnant as they make it difficult for the embryo to become implanted in the uterus.

Respiratory Damage

JUUL vaporizers may not leave tar as they don’t burn tobacco, but they do contain several chemicals, aside from nicotine, that can be very damaging to your lungs and respiratory system. These compounds can result in diseases like asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, coughing, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Examples include benzoic acid and propylene glycol, both of which are found in JUUL.

Cytotoxicity

A research study showed that JUUL was the only brand that was sufficiently high in nicotine to pose as a cytotoxicity hazard out of the hundreds of e-cigarettes tested. Out of the eight different sweet flavors sold by JUUL, studies found different cytotoxicity levels.

JUUL Labs Inc. marketed its products to minors who had no prior experience of nicotine use, and led them to believe the product was safer and healthier and an alternative to smoking.

Millions of Americans are now addicted to nicotine and many of them may have acquired this condition because they used JUUL vaporizers while they were underage thinking they were harmless and cool, not knowing they were consuming dangerous life-altering chemicals.

Individuals who are fighting life-threatening diseases linked with JUUL usage have taken out JUUL vaporizer lawsuits to receive compensation for the damages they sustained to their health because of JUUL Labs’ false marketing.

Until recently, many of the cases were individual suits, but class action lawsuits are increasingly appearing on the horizon. In fact, the fight against JUUL is now known as “Big Tobacco 2.0” since it is reminiscent of the 1990s Big Tobacco lawsuits and plaintiffs are filing similar claims.

If you or your loved one has used JUUL and developed nicotine addiction or other health issues before turning 18 and before November 2018, you may have a case for a JUUL vaporizer lawsuit.

The statute of limitations for e-cigarette lawsuits vary from state to state. If you have been harmed by JUUL vaporizers, you should seek a lawsuit before the term expires. Contact an experienced attorney for questions on the Statute of Limitations.

Since the symptoms and health conditions of using JUUL typically manifest slowly, some states apply the discovery rule. This allows you to calculate how long you have to file a case based on when the damage caused by JUUL was first discovered. It can also differ depending on where you live, so contact Frankl Kominsky as soon as possible for guidance as to your options.

Before the first JUUL vaporizer lawsuit was even filed, local, state and federal health experts were already warning personal injury lawyers to prepare themselves of an avalanche of e-cigarette-related cases. Now, dozens of cases of teens and young adults suffering from the effects of nicotine and other harmful chemicals associated with JUUL vaping has been filed.

In 2018, two lawsuits were filed in California claiming that JUUL marketed its products as safe even though they contained nicotine. The suits further reported that JUUL’s patented nicotine salts resulted in increased consumption and addiction to nicotine.

In the same year, another lawsuit filed in New York by the father of a 15-year-old claimed JUUL contains more nicotine than is necessary to satisfy an adult, and consumption of the vapor caused his son to exhibit anxiety, irritability, and angry outbursts.

As of September 21, 2019, JUUL Labs Inc. has been defending against 56 JUUL vaporizer lawsuits in federal court.

JUUL vaporizer cases are only expected to grow in light of the sheer number of health risks associated with JUUL vape devices.

At Frankl Kominsky, we strive to hold JUUL accountable for their failure to warn consumers about the dangers of JUUL vape devices and violation of consumer fraud laws.

If you or your loved one thinks you can qualify for a JUUL vaporizer lawsuit, contact Frankl Kominsky lawyers today. We offer no-obligation free consultations for anyone who has suffered from the effects of using JUUL.