Mealey's Tobacco
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September 15, 2023
9th Circuit Won’t Rehear Flavored Vape Company’s Challenge To FDA Ban
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 14 denied a combined petition for panel or en banc rehearing of a flavored vape company’s challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s ban of its products, which a panel previously rejected after finding that the FDA properly informed the company of its standards before banning their products.
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September 14, 2023
Judge Dismisses $100M Suit Against Tobacco Company For Causing Man’s Addiction
FLORENCE, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge dismissed with prejudice a pro se plaintiff’s personal injury lawsuit demanding $100 million from a tobacco company after adopting in full a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation and finding the plaintiff’s suit deficient, in part because his claim that he was unaware of the health risks of smoking until June 2020 is “implausible.”
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September 13, 2023
Philip Morris Appeals Order Applying Old Warnings To New Products To D.C. Circuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM) on Sept. 12 filed notice in a District of Columbia federal court that it is appealing to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a ruling that its new “HeatSticks” tobacco products are bound by the same “corrective statements” remedy imposed on tobacco companies in 2006 after they were found liable for a racketeering scheme to conceal the health risks of cigarettes.
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September 12, 2023
Altria, United States Ask To Stay Taxation Suit Pending High Court Ruling
RICHMOND, Va. — Tobacco company Altria Group Inc. on Sept. 11 filed an unopposed motion to stay its action against the United States seeking a refund of roughly $106 million in income taxes that Altria says the U.S. Internal Revenue Service “erroneously collected” based on taxation of Altria’s foreign holdings, writing that the case should be stayed pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a related constitutional question.
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September 11, 2023
E-Cig Buyers File Amended Antitrust Complaint Against Juul And Altria
SAN FRANCISCO — Purchasers of Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) e-cigarette and vaping products filed an amended antitrust class complaint in California federal court accusing JLI and Altria Group Inc. of artificially increasing prices based on anti-competitive conduct after a stay on the litigation was lifted following the Federal Trade Commission’s withdrawal of its antitrust complaint against the two companies.
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September 11, 2023
Esco Bar E-Cigarette Maker Accuses FDA Of Wrongfully Banning Its Products
AUSTIN, Texas — The manufacturer of Esco Bar-brand disposable, synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes filed a complaint in Texas federal court accusing the Food and Drug Administration of improperly refusing to accept its premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs), writing that “FDA ignored relevant evidence, never articulated any lawful grounds for denying the PMTAs, and violated . . . its own regulations and guidance.”
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September 08, 2023
Juul MDL Judge Gives Preliminary OK To $45M Settlement Against Altria
SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict e-cigarette litigation on Sept. 7 granted the lead plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval of a settlement resolving all remaining claims in the MDL for more than $45 million against Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries for the economic losses of class members who purchased Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) e-cigarettes.
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September 06, 2023
Smoker’s Daughter Says Court Reversibly Erred By Not Summoning Jurors Over 70
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A deceased smoker’s daughter writes in an appellant brief to the First District Florida Court of Appeal that it should reverse a defense verdict rejecting her wrongful death Engle lawsuit against two tobacco companies based on the trial court not summoning any potential jurors over age 70.
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August 30, 2023
2nd Circuit Won’t Rehear Flavored Pod Maker’s Challenge To FDA Ban
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a flavored e-cigarette pod manufacturer’s petition for panel or en banc rehearing of its petition for review of the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) banning sales of the manufacturer’s products.
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August 30, 2023
D.C. Circuit Vacates FDA Ban Of Blu Unflavored Vapes, Upholds Ban Of Flavors
SAN FRANCISCO — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 29 granted in part the manufacturer of “blu” vapes’ petition for review of a Food and Drug Administration ban of its products, vacating the ban of the manufacturer’s unflavored products as “arbitrary” but upholding the ban of flavored products while separately denying a second petition the company filed as untimely.
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August 29, 2023
Petitioner Defends Challenge To Synthetic Nicotine Patent, Seeks PTO Director Review
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In an Aug. 28 request for rehearing by the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of a denial one month earlier by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of inter partes review (IPR) of a synthetic nicotine patent, a petitioner says the board should have applied an “obvious to try” standard in its assessment of a motivation to combine various prior art.
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August 28, 2023
Oral Arguments Pending In Mass. High Court Review Of Smoker’s Widow’s Loss
BOSTON — A smoker’s widow on Aug 28 moved to reschedule pending oral arguments before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just weeks after the court sua sponte transferred her appeal and all pending briefs to the court to address whether the widow was denied the right to a fair trial by the trial court’s imposition of time limits on the parties’ presentation of evidence.
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August 24, 2023
Iowa Announces $171M Settlement With Tobacco Companies In MSA Dispute
DES MOINES, Iowa — The office of Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced that it has reached a $171 million settlement of a lawsuit the state filed in Iowa court contending that tobacco companies withheld more than $133 million in “bad faith” over the past 18 years by raising “deceptive” objections to the state’s compliance with the terms of a 1998 master settlement agreement (MSA) between the companies and the state.
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August 23, 2023
San Diego Sues Retailers For Violating State Ban On Flavored Tobacco Sales
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Attorney’s Office on Aug. 22 filed a complaint accusing two businesses that collectively operate nine stores in San Diego of repeatedly violating California and San Diego’s bans of flavored tobacco sales and seeking civil penalties under California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
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August 23, 2023
Flavored Vape Company Urges 9th Circuit To Reconsider FDA’s ‘Arbitrary’ Ban
SAN FRANCISCO — A manufacturer of flavored e-liquids for use with vaping devices filed a petition in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking panel or en banc rehearing of a panel’s denial of its bid for review of a Food and Drug Administration ban of its products, writing that the Ninth Circuit “overlooked” the fact that the FDA improperly adopted a rule banning flavored products while its application was pending.
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August 21, 2023
6th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of Exploding Vape Suit Against Korean Battery Maker
CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a Michigan federal judge’s dismissal for lack of a personal jurisdiction of a lawsuit against a foreign battery maker brought by a man who was burned by an exploding e-cigarette, finding that the plaintiff’s evidence established sufficient contacts between the battery maker and Michigan.
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August 11, 2023
Judge Vacates FDA Rule Regulating Manufacture Of Premium Cigars
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge vacated the Food and Drug Administration’s rule regulating premium cigars, granting the remedy sought by cigar industry associations and opposed by the FDA since the judge held one year ago that the FDA’s premium cigar rule was “arbitrary and capricious” and issued without consideration of “pertinent evidence.”
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August 10, 2023
Judge Dismisses Juul Exec’s Wrongful Firing Suit After Arbitrator Rejects Claims
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Aug. 9 dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit brought by a former executive who accused e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) of wrongful termination and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) after he complained that up to 1 million of its mint-flavored nicotine pods may be contaminated, citing the rejection of his claims by an arbitrator.
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August 07, 2023
United States Denies Altria’s Claim For $106M In Allegedly Overpaid Taxes
RICHMOND, Va. — The United States filed its answer and affirmative defenses in Virginia federal court where tobacco company Altria Group Inc. is suing it for roughly $106 million in overpaid income taxes that Altria says the U.S. Internal Revenue Service “erroneously collected” based on taxation of Altria’s foreign holdings, asserting that the court lacks jurisdiction over the claims and that its review of Altria’s taxes is ongoing.
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August 07, 2023
Anti-SLAPP Law Doesn’t Apply To New Tobacco Products Suit, Plaintiffs Claim
FRESNO, Calif. — R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) and retailers filed a brief in California state court opposing the state attorney general and Fresno County district attorney’s motion to strike their lawsuit challenging the state’s identification of new RJR products with crushable filter capsules as “presumptively flavored,” saying their claims don’t relate to protected speech.
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August 07, 2023
Flavored Vape Company Says FDA Wrongly Refused To Accept Premarket Application
ATLANTA — A flavored e-cigarette company filed suit in Georgia federal court against the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and their respective leaders, contending that the FDA improperly refused to accept its premarket tobacco application (PMTA) for allegedly failing to include specifications about the product that the company asserts was in fact contained in the PMTA.
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August 04, 2023
E-Cig Businesses Among Amici Weighing In On Chevron Deference Before High Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares in a pending case filed against government officials and agencies by vessel owners to weigh the doctrine of Chevron deference, dozens of legal, industrial, political and advocacy groups have filed amicus briefs, including e-cigarette companies that say the doctrine allowed the Food and Drug Administration to apply an “extreme” interpretation of its powers in banning thousands of e-cigarette products.
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August 04, 2023
Vape Company Tells High Court FDA Cut Corners To Ban Flavored Vapes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of affiliated flavored vape companies in an Aug. 3 reply brief urge the U.S. Supreme Court to grant their petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling upholding the Food and Drug Administration’s ban of their products, writing that the decision “was wrong” and that the FDA showed “hubris” when it ignored the requirements of administrative review.
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August 04, 2023
NYC Sues Vape Companies Alleging Illegal Sales Of Flavored, Disposable Vapes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New York City on Aug. 3 filed an amended complaint accusing sellers of e-cigarette devices of illegally netting millions in profit while selling flavored vape devices in the city, seeking millions in damages and penalties from sellers the city says are liable for violating a statewide ban on flavored vapes, public nuisance, mail and wire fraud and racketeering.
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August 02, 2023
Flavored Pod Maker Says 2nd Circuit Wrongly Affirmed FDA Ban
NEW YORK — A flavored e-cigarette pod manufacturer on Aug. 2 filed a petition for panel or en banc rehearing to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a panel erred in affirming the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) that banned sales of the manufacturer’s products, writing that the panel’s ruling “overlooks and misapprehends material points of fact and law” and conflicts with Second Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court precedent.