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Mealey's Tobacco

August 11, 2022
Judge Declares Mistrial In Wrongful Death Suit Against Tobacco Company

BOSTON — A Massachusetts state court judge on Aug. 8 declared a mistrial in a wrongful death action after jurors failed to reach a verdict following three days of deliberation on claims brought against a tobacco company by the family of a deceased smoker, which had claimed that the tobacco company caused the smoker’s addiction and death from lung cancer by designing smoother-tasting menthol cigarettes to intentionally addict smokers. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
August 05, 2022
Court Didn’t Err By Allowing Tobacco Company To Impeach Smoker’s Widow, Panel Says

MIAMI — A Florida appellate panel on July 27 affirmed a defense verdict in favor of a tobacco company against the widow of a smoker, rejecting the widow’s argument that the court abused its discretion by allowing the tobacco company to impeach her testimony during trial with questions regarding whether she altered her testimony about the date her husband developed a smoking-related illness and fell ill to bolster her lawsuit’s chance of success.
August 04, 2022
Judge Dismisses Vape Shop’s Challenge To Town’s E-Cigarette Sales Ban

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A New York federal judge on Aug. 1 granted dismissal of a challenge brought by retailers to a New York town’s ordinance banning sales of e-cigarette products, ruling that the ordinance is not expressly preempted by federal tobacco regulations and does not infringe on the retailers’ rights under the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Const. amend. I.
August 03, 2022
FDA Warns Court Of ‘Serious’ Consequences If It Vacates Premium Cigar Regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services and their respective leaders in an Aug. 2 brief urge a District of Columbia federal judge to remand, not vacate, a rule regulating premium cigars, which the court recently found was arbitrarily imposed, arguing that vacatur would cause “disruptive consequences” and “serious public health harms.”
August 02, 2022
Juul Says Tribe Can’t Bring MDL Claims For E-Cigs It Did Not Consume

SAN FRANCISCO — E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) on July 28 moved in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to dismiss a claim against it for violation of the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act (OCPA) brought by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, one of three tribal bellwethers accusing JLI of targeting tribes with illegal and deceptive marketing of e-cigarettes.
July 29, 2022
Judge Finds No Jurisdiction Over Samsung For Exploding Vape Battery Claims

GALVESTON, Texas — A Texas federal judge on July 26 dismissed without prejudice a man’s product liability claims against a South Korean battery manufacturer for severe burns he sustained after his e-cigarette vape exploded in his pocket, finding that Samsung sold batteries only to authorized manufacturers in Texas and did not intend its lithium-ion batteries to be sold for use in vape devices.
July 28, 2022
D.C. Circuit Denies 4 Flavored E-Liquid Makers’ Challenges To FDA Bans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 26 denied four vape companies’ consolidated petitions for review of the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial orders (MDOs) banning their products from the market, finding that the FDA’s error in not reviewing the companies’ individual marketing plans was “harmless” because other data showed that the risk of youth use outweighed the products’ benefits to adult smokers.
July 27, 2022
9th Circuit Stays E-Liquid Maker’s Challenge To FDA Marketing Denial Until 2024

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 22 ordered a vape company’s petition challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) prohibiting sales of its products stayed until January 2024 while the FDA conducts re-reviews of various vape companies’ premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs).
July 20, 2022
Dead Smoker’s Family Says Tobacco Companies Chose Unsafe, Addictive Designs

BOSTON — The family of a deceased smoker who got hooked after smoking a free sample pack at age 16 told jurors July 15 during opening arguments in a Massachusetts state court that a tobacco company caused the decedent’s addiction and death from lung cancer by designing smoother-tasting menthol cigarettes to intentionally addict smokers. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
July 20, 2022
High Court Gives Tobacco Companies More Time To Challenge L.A.’s Flavor Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, as circuit justice for the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, on July 15 granted three tobacco companies’ application for an extension until Oct. 7 to file a petition for a writ of certiorari challenging a split Ninth Circuit panel’s affirmance of the dismissal of their challenge to a ban on flavored tobacco products enacted by Los Angeles County.
July 20, 2022
Split 5th Circuit Panel Says FDA Properly Banned Companies’ Flavored Vapes

NEW ORLEANS — In an about-face from a 2021 order finding that the Food and Drug Administration made a “surprise switcheroo” in the standards upon which it banned sales of certain flavored e-cigarettes, a split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 18 found that the FDA acted within its authority in banning two vape companies’ products for a lack of scientific studies demonstrating efficacy promoting smoking cessation.
July 19, 2022
Juul And Co-defendants Seek To Appeal MDL Judge’s Class Certification Order

SAN FRANCISCO — Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) co-founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen on July 15 filed joinders to three petitions to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently filed separately by JLI, Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries and three JLI board members, all seeking to appeal the certification of four classes bringing claims for up to $10 billion in damages in the multidistrict litigation against them.
July 15, 2022
Tobacco Companies Ask High Court For More Time To Challenge L.A.’s Flavor Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three tobacco companies on July 12 filed an application to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting an extension until October to file their petition for a writ of certiorari challenging a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s affirmance of the dismissal of their challenge to a ban on flavored tobacco products enacted by Los Angeles County.
July 12, 2022
Judge Finds FDA Ignored Evidence In Deeming Premium Cigars Subject To Regulation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on July 5 granted in part three tobacco industry associations’ motion for summary judgment on claims that the Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily by deeming premium cigars subject to regulation without acknowledging evidence that suggested that the cigars did not pose a public health risk and ordered further briefing on whether that decision should be vacated or remanded without vacatur.
July 12, 2022
Virgin Islands Supreme Court Reduces $113.3M Awards To 2 Smokers’ Estates

ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — The Supreme Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands on July 7 affirmed findings of liability against a tobacco company for claims brought by the families of two dead smokers who collectively were awarded more than $113.3 million but vacated an “excessive” $70 million compensatory damages award in one case, reduced a $30 million punitive award in the other to $14.4 million and vacated the court’s award of prejudgment interest to the plaintiffs.
July 11, 2022
Panel Reverses $6M Punitive Damages Award In Engle Case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida appellate panel on July 6 reversed a $6 million punitive damages award to a smoker’s widow after finding that the trial court erred in instructing jurors to rely on findings from the Engle trial in determining punitives against a tobacco company for causing the smoker’s death from stomach cancer.
July 11, 2022
Jury Returns Defense Verdict In Engle Case, Says Smoker Didn’t Have Lung Cancer

MIAMI — A Florida jury on June 23 returned a defense verdict in favor of a tobacco company in an Engle case after finding that the widow of a deceased smoker failed to prove that the decedent had lung cancer caused by smoking cigarettes. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
July 11, 2022
D.C. Circuit Stays Juul’s Challenge To E-Cigs Ban As FDA Begins New Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 7 granted a joint motion by Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and the Food and Drug Administration to hold in abeyance JLI’s petition for review of the FDA’s recent marketing denial order (MDO) prohibiting sales and distribution of all JLI e-cigarette products, a day after the parties informed the court that the FDA’s tobacco office decided JLI’s products present “scientific issues . . . that warrant additional review.”
June 30, 2022
4 Plaintiff Classes Certified By Judge In Juul MDL

SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge overseeing the Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) multidistrict litigation on June 28 granted plaintiffs’ motion to certify four separate classes, two for adults and two for minors, after finding that the plaintiffs established common questions of fact and law regarding whether JLI and the other defendants violated consumer fraud laws or engaged in racketeering by allegedly designing and deceptively marketing their e-cigarettes in a manner that caused a surge in youth vaping .
June 29, 2022
Oregon Jury Awards $1.6M To Estate Of Dead Pall Mall Smoker

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon state court jury on June 27 awarded the family of a smoker who died from lung cancer $1.6 million in compensatory damages for negligence but returned a defense verdict on his fraud and strict negligence claims after lawyers for opposing sides during closings alternately painted the smoker as unable to quit after getting hooked as a teen or as a cigarette enjoyer who never made a serious attempt to quit until being diagnosed with cancer. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
June 28, 2022
Juul Blasts FDA’s PMTA Process In New Motion To Stay Ban Of Its E-Cigs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) tells the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a June 27 emergency motion to stay the Food and Drug Administration’s recent marketing denial order (MDO) prohibiting sales and distribution of all JLI e-cigarette products, which the Circuit Court ordered temporarily stayed on June 24, that the MDO was a “manifestly erroneous” decision caused by political pressure, failure to evaluate JLI’s data and unfair standards that were not applied to other e-cigarette makers.
June 27, 2022
D.C. Circuit Grants Juul’s Emergency Motion To Temporarily Halt FDA Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 24 granted e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc.’s (JLI) emergency motion for an administrative stay of the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) prohibiting sales and distributions of all JLI e-cigarette products on a temporary basis as JLI prepares more challenges of the FDA’s order.
June 24, 2022
Jury Awards $1M To Family Of Smoker For Cancer Death

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida jury on June 17 awarded $1 million in damages against a tobacco company for a smoker’s lung cancer and death but found the smoker 65% at fault for his cancer and death due to negligence and awarded no punitive damages after hearing evidence that he told a friend he liked smoking, concealed his habit and was not interested in quitting for years. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
June 23, 2022
Judge Finds Jurisdiction Over Korean Battery Maker In Exploding Vape Suit

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri federal judge on June 21 denied a Korean battery manufacturer’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a man who claimed that the company’s lithium batteries caused an e-cigarette to explode in his pocket, weeks after the judge dismissed claims against the manufacturer’s American subsidiary for lack of jurisdiction.
June 23, 2022
FDA Orders All Juul E-Cigarettes Off Market

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration on June 23 ordered e-cigarette maker JUUL Labs Inc. (JLI) to stop selling or distributing all of its products in the United States, writing that it denied JLI’s premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) because JLI did not provide “sufficient evidence . . . to demonstrate that marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.”