JUUL Plaintiffs Ask Court To Consolidate Multiple Claims

JUUL Plaintiffs Ask Court To Consolidate Multiple Claims

Introduction

Plaintiffs in JUUL nicotine addiction lawsuits are asking the U.S. District Judge to consolidate the different claims for the first bellwether trial that will begin next year.

The lawsuits allege JUUL of implementing deceptive marketing strategies that targeted teens and prior non-smokers. It eventually resulted in the addiction to nicotine that is present in the e-cigarettes of the company.

Judge Orrick has even created a bellwether process by selecting a group of six personal injury cases. The process will prevent the repetitive response of juries to certain evidence and testimony throughout the hearing.

Plaintiffs sent a letter to Judge Orrick last week asking the court to consolidate six bellwether cases into one combined trial. However, the defendant has asked for separate trials for individual lawsuits. The court might prefer smaller multi-plaintiff trials. The letter even states that consolidation of the cases will prevent expense and delay of repetitive trials that might provide similar evidence and include the same issues.

Plaintiffs highlighted in the letter that most of the cases are identical with similar allegations of nicotine addiction against JUUL. Consolidation of the cases will provide uniformity in the court proceedings considering the common facts and questions.

JUUL pods gained immense popularity among the teens within a shorter span of time due to the aggressive marketing of the company. The vaping pods were introduced in 2015 and soon resulted in a nicotine addiction epidemic throughout the U.S.

Currently, JUUL Labs faces more than 4,500 product liability lawsuits from school districts, municipalities and individuals. All the JUUL lawsuits are centralized before U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick III in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Federal regulators are looking to discontinue the sale of JUUL vaping pods from the market, considering the nicotine addiction among the teens and illicit product marketing.

JUUL tried to convince the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by submitting a 125,000-page application that highlighted the benefits of e-cigarettes stating that vaping pods help smokers quit smoking. The company even mentioned in the application that those benefits surpass the teen vaping epidemic caused because of the JUUL pods.

JUUL’s extensive marketing of vaping pods is linked to an increase in nicotine addiction among teens across the country. The high levels of nicotine in JUUL pods often result in long-term health problems among the users.

Manufacturers of tobacco products such as e-cigarettes, pipe tobacco, cigars, and hookah tobacco that were on the market as of August 8, 2016, are required to submit applications to the FDA before May 12, 2020, as ordered by a U.S. District Court in Maryland in July 2019. Later, the deadline was revised to September 9, 2021, considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The application will include the marketing strategies that the manufacturers will implement to prevent underage use of vaping pods.

The final deadline for the FDA to decide the fate of the JUUL pods is September 9. Currently, the company faces more than 4500 vaping lawsuits from school districts, municipalities, and individuals. All the lawsuits allege the company of fueling nicotine addiction among teens, young adults, and prior non-smokers by implementing deceptive marketing strategies through social media and other marketing platforms.

Earlier, the FDA forced JUUL to discontinue most of the vaping pod flavors from the market that resulted in huge losses to the company. The company shut down operations in 14 countries as the sales dropped by about $500 million. The company earlier had a market value of $40 billion, which is now reduced to $5 billion. Experts believe that if the FDA rejects JUUL's application, it will eventually lead to the end of JUUL Labs as a company.

It is reported that JUUL has bought the May/June issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior for $51,000 to get 11 studies published which will highlight the benefits of vaping products. The company has even paid an additional amount of $6,500, so the users can get free access to the studies.

JUUL pods were first introduced in 2015, and within a short period, the products gained popularity among teens and young adults across the United States.

Earlier, a federal jury announced a landmark settlement that orders electronic cigarette giant Juul Labs Inc. to pay $40 million to North Carolina in litigation that accuses the company of fueling teen vaping.
It is first of its kind agreement with a state. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein sued the company by placing allegations that Juul’s unfair and deceptive marketing strategies encouraged the use of vaping products among the youth.

The agreement states that the vaping manufacturer Juul will no longer advertise its products to anyone under 21 in North Carolina. It also states that the company should limit the sales of its products by selling only behind counters at retailers who have ID scanners that will detect the customer's age.

A spokesperson for Juul said that the company is already experiencing a decline in the sale of its products post the discontinuation of advertising and social media promotion. The company is effectively looking forward to combating underage vaping by taking necessary measures.

Juul faces individual lawsuits from several states, and since February 2020, a group of 39 state attorneys general is cooperatively investigating the company’s marketing and products. The company even faces hundreds of personal injury lawsuits, which include claims from customers and families of young people affected because of vaping. All these lawsuits are consolidated before Judge William H. Orrick in a California federal court.