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Mealey's Tobacco

  • February 20, 2025

    New York State Sues Flavored E-Cig Companies For Causing Youth Health ‘Crisis’

    NEW YORK — The New York Attorney General’s Office on Feb. 20 filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York accusing multiple sellers of violating state and federal laws and creating a public nuisance by selling flavored e-cigarettes, including disposable vape products, and causing “a public health crisis among its youth.”

  • February 20, 2025

    Lawmaker Serves Tobacco Companies He Accuses Of Improper Vape Lobbying

    HELENA, Mont. — A Montana state lawmaker who is a vape shop owner on Feb. 19 filed notice in Montana federal court against tobacco companies he contends are violating a 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) they entered into with the United States by lobbying the state to allow their vape products to be sold.

  • February 13, 2025

    Mistrial Over References To Adopted Kids Denied In Smoker’s Wrongful Death Suit

    WOBURN, Mass. — A Massachusetts state court justice denied a motion filed by two tobacco companies and two retailers for a mistrial based on “‘emotional’” references to children with health issues adopted by a dead smoker and his widow prior to the smoker’s death at age 54 from lung cancer, writing that the references took up only a small portion of an hourlong opening statement. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.

  • February 13, 2025

    FDA’s Vape Rules Not Unfairly ‘Burdensome’ To Small E-Liquid Makers, Judge Says

    SHERMAN, Texas — A Texas federal judge on Feb. 12 denied summary judgment sought by small e-liquid makers and a vaping industry association that claimed that the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of vaping is so “burdensome” that it effectively bars small companies from entering the market and granted the FDA’s cross-motion for summary judgment.

  • February 12, 2025

    Vape Sellers, Rhode Island Dismiss Challenge To Flavored E-Cig Ban

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Two vape shop owners and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office on Feb. 11 filed a joint stipulation of dismissal of the vape shop owners’ lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island seeking to block a new state law banning sales of all flavored vape products in the state, which took effect at the beginning of the year.

  • February 10, 2025

    Justice Partly Amends Judgment For Smoker’s Death, Denies Claim Of Extreme ‘Bias’

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Massachusetts state court justice on Feb. 7 agreed that a previously entered judgment worth more than $105 million in favor of the widower of a dead smoker should be amended to reduce the attorney fees award and recalculate the trebled damages award but otherwise maintained the judgment, which the tobacco company had in part claimed was evidence of “extreme bias.”

  • February 07, 2025

    Smoker’s Malpractice Settlement Precludes Widow’s Wrongful Death Suit, Panel Says

    MIAMI — A Fourth District Florida Court of Appeal panel on Feb. 6 affirmed a trial court’s entry of summary judgment for a cigarette company on Engle claims brought against it by a widow for causing her husband’s lung cancer and death, which the trial court deemed precluded by the husband’s previous settlement of medical malpractice claims against his cancer doctor.

  • February 07, 2025

    FDA Wants High Court To ‘Hold’ Vape Ban Petition Pending Earlier Vape Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration urges the U.S. Supreme Court in a reply in support of its petition for a writ of certiorari to hold its petition challenging the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reversal of FDA bans issued to several flavored e-liquid companies pending the high court’s ruling in Food and Drug Administration v. Wages & White Lion, as it says that decision will impact how it addresses a remand ordered by the Fifth Circuit.

  • February 06, 2025

    Smoker’s Daughter Waived Elder Juror Exclusion Challenge, Panel Says

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The First District Florida Court of Appeal on Feb. 5 affirmed a defense verdict rejecting a wrongful death suit brought by a deceased smoker’s daughter against two tobacco companies, writing that she failed to timely raise or preserve her objection to the fact that the trial court did not summon any potential jurors over the age of 70.

  • February 06, 2025

    ‘Racial Targeting’ Argument Tainted $34 Million Verdict, Tobacco Company Says

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A tobacco company argues in an appellant brief filed in a Florida appellate court that a jury’s $34 million verdict against it for the death of a 38-year-old smoker with cancer that allegedly caused a brain hemorrhage should be reversed in part because the smoker’s estate made improper, inflammatory arguments that the company “‘targeted’ black males” with its marketing.

  • February 03, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Vape Association, Sellers’ Challenge To Kentucky Law

    FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Kentucky federal judge dismissed for lack of standing a lawsuit filed by a vaping industry association and two vape businesses that sought to enjoin a new Kentucky law barring sales of vapor products not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, rejecting the plaintiffs’ argument that they have a legally protected interest in the right to sell “illegal products.”

  • February 03, 2025

    D.C. Circuit Affirms Vacatur Of FDA’s Premium Cigar Rules

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a judge’s vacatur of Food and Drug Administration’s rules for premium cigar regulation as “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and agreed that vacatur was the appropriate remedy but reversed as to the court’s definition of “premium cigars” and remanded for the parties to address that issue.

  • January 30, 2025

    Iowa Urges Rejection Of Synthetic Nicotine Sellers’ Vape Regulation Challenge

    DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Revenue and its director on Jan. 29 filed a brief in Iowa federal court opposing a motion by a vaping advocacy association and five businesses to preliminarily enjoin the state’s new law regulating sales of e-cigarettes from going into effect next week, arguing that the law is proper under the state’s police powers and denying that synthetic nicotine vapes will be treated unequally under the law.

  • January 29, 2025

    Tobacco Company, Retailer Settle Wrongful Death Suit Brought By Widower

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A tobacco company, retailer and the widower of a dead smoker settled a wrongful death suit brought in Massachusetts state court by the widower the day after openings in the trial were held regarding the widower’s claims that they are liable for his wife’s death from lung cancer at age 59 after she got hooked on smoking when she was given free samples of cigarettes as a 14-year-old.

  • January 28, 2025

    Mass. Justice Trebles Damages, Enters $105M Judgment For Smoker’s Cancer Death

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Massachusetts state court justice entered judgment worth roughly $105 million in favor of the widower of a smoker who got hooked on cigarettes after being handed a free sample at age 12 and died from lung cancer at age 59, after adding attorney fees and interest to the jury’s $10.6 million verdict, then adding additional trebled damages due to the tobacco company’s “unfair and deceptive trade practices.”

  • January 21, 2025

    Justices Debate Tobacco Control Act’s Venue Provision In ‘Forum Shopping’ Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 21 heard oral arguments in a petition brought by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and their respective secretaries (collectively, FDA) who argue that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has improperly allowed “forum shopping” by permitting out-of-circuit e-cigarette manufacturers to challenge federal regulations in the circuit of local retailers with more appealing precedents.

  • January 21, 2025

    Massachusetts High Court Upholds Fine Against Store For Flavored Cigar Sale

    BOSTON — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a $1,000 fine levied against a convenience store in Braintree, Mass., for violating the state’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products by having an open box of flavored “Black & Mild” cigars on the shelf behind the cash register.

  • January 17, 2025

    $4.95M Class Settlement Gets Preliminary OK In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Suit

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Missouri federal judge on Jan. 16 granted preliminary approval to a $4.95 million class settlement proposed in a suit that was filed months before a recent wave of similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plans’ tobacco surcharges.

  • January 14, 2025

    Tobacco Graphic Warnings Rule Postponed Pending Companies’ APA Challenge

    TYLER, Texas — A Texas federal judge on Jan. 13 ordered the effective date of the Food and Drug Administration’s new graphic warnings requirement on tobacco products under the Tobacco Control Act (TCA) postponed pending the outcome of an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenge to the rule brought by tobacco companies and retailers, which remains pending after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ rejection of their First Amendment arguments.

  • January 13, 2025

    FDA: High Court Must Restrict ‘Forum Shopping,’ Bar Retailers From Vape Ban Cases

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Jan. 10 reply brief, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and their respective secretaries (collectively FDA) urge the U.S. Supreme Court to reject vape companies’ and retailers’ interpretation of the Tobacco Control Act (TCA), which was upheld by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that the TCA restricts “forum shopping” by manufacturers and bars retailers from participating in vape ban challenges.

  • January 10, 2025

    High Court Distributes Tribe’s Tobacco Rule Challenge After State Waives Response

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court distributed a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by two subsidiaries of Winnebago Tribe-owned tobacco company seeking review of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling upholding Nebraska’s right to enforce Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) regulations over its tobacco sales to tribal nonmembers after the state waived its right to respond.

  • January 08, 2025

    $4.95M ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Deal Proposed In Case That Preceded Recent Wave

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A suit filed months before a recent wave of similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plans’ tobacco surcharges would be resolved for $4.95 million under a class settlement to which the plaintiff has asked a Missouri federal court to grant preliminary approval.

  • January 08, 2025

    Amici Tell High Court Venue Was Proper In Menthol Vape Maker’s FDA Challenge

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several legal advocacy groups, vape industry associations and vape companies filed amicus curiae briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to find that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals properly found jurisdiction over a petition brought by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJRV) and retailers challenging a Food and Drug Administration ban of certain RJRV products, with one amicus writing that FDA’s petition should be dismissed as improvidently granted.

  • January 07, 2025

    Utah’s New Flavored Vape Ban Paused By Federal Judge After Retailers Sue

    SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah federal judge granted a joint stipulated motion by the state of Utah, the Utah Vapor Business Association (UVBA) and a local vape retailer to enjoin the state’s new law banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and other vape products from taking effect, which the plaintiffs argue is unconstitutional and will destroy vape businesses while driving adult vapers to combustible cigarettes or the black market.

  • January 06, 2025

    Panel Strikes Manufacturer Licensing Provisions From Pennsylvania Tobacco Tax Act

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — Addressing a “case of first impression,” a split Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel on Jan. 3 ruled in favor of an e-liquid maker and struck down the tobacco manufacturer licensing provisions contained in the state’s Tobacco Products Tax Act (TPTA) after finding the section not severable from the specific challenged provisions that it found “invalid . . . as an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.”