Can I File a Lawsuit Against JUUL?
JUUL vapes were, until recently, the most widely sold brand of e-cigarette in the United States. For many years JUUL was also the most popular brand among kids under 18. Because of the way JUUL has been marketed at teens, as well as the level of addiction it can cause and the physical harm that can result from using it (even used as directed) in both teens and adults, users of JUULs might be able to sue for compensation.
We have attorneys ready to help Minnesota and Wisconsin residents in determining if they can sue JUUL for money damages. Call us today at 1-888-377-8900 or text us at 612-261-8056. You can also reach us via our online form here.
Reasons you might have a claim against JUUL:
- You or your child started using JUUL prior to the age of 18
- You have tried to quit vaping JUULs without success or otherwise became addicted to e-cigarettes after using JUUL; and you were not a tobacco user before first using JUUL
- You developed any of the following health problems after starting to use JUUL; and you were not a tobacco or marijuana user before using JUUL…
- Stroke
- Heart Attack
- High Blood Pressure
- Lung Disease (also known as “Pulmonary Disease”) or lung damage of any kind
- Seizures
- You suffered burn or battery explosion injuries caused by your e-cigarette
Our Minnesota and Wisconsin JUUL lawyers are ready to help you with your claim
Call us today at 1-888-377-8900 | Text us at 612-261-0856 | Email us at attorneys@pritzkerlaw.com
Or, you can fill out the form below…
You are never charged ANYTHING ever unless we win money for you
What is JUUL?
JUUL is a brand of e-cigarette manufactured by JUUL Labs, which is owned, in large part, by Altria Group (the tobacco company formerly known as Philip Morris). JUUL was the top-selling e-cigarette brand in the U.S. for a number of years starting in 2017. Adopting the playbook of Big Tobacco, the company hooked millions of teens and young adults on nicotine with youth-oriented marketing tactics.
JUUL vape devices are shaped like USB flash drives and contain a battery, a heating element, and a place to hold a liquid, called a “pod.” The liquid used in e-cigarettes, often referred to as “e-juice,” “e-liquid,” “vape juice,” or “vape liquid,” contains nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals that produce an aerosol when heated. Users inhale e-cigarette aerosol in their lungs, a process that is referred to as “vaping” or “JUULing.” Bystanders can also breathe in this aerosol second-hand, when the user exhales it into the air.
According to the manufacturer, a single JUUL pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of regular cigarettes. Unlike most other e-cigarette brands, JUUL uses nicotine salts, which allow high levels of nicotine to be easily inhaled.
JUUL pods originally came in kid-friendly fruit and dessert flavors. Data released in 2019 found that mint was the most popular JUUL flavor among high school students, which accounted for 70% of the company’s sales until the FDA announced a ban of all mint and fruit flavored vaping products.
On June 23, 2022 the FDA reportedly ordered Juul to stop selling all Juul products after the company failed to provide adequate information about the toxic effects of its products, however on July 4th, the FDA reversed that decision and regulatory action against Juul is currently undetermined.
How do JUULs hurt people?
The full range of ways that JUUL and other e-cigarettes can cause harm is still being studied, but what has become increasingly clear is that, far from being used as tool to help people already addicted to tobacco, JUUL has been marketed in ways that introduce previously tobacco-free kids to the product and addict them for life. JUUL has used flavor profiles, product design, social media influencers, and advertising on kid-focused sites to make kids think the product was both “for them” and “safe” for them. It is far more insidious than that, however…because the form of nicotine used in JUULs, called “nicotine salts”, is more addictive even than the kind found in regular tobacco cigarettes, and the amount of nicotine salts JUUL uses in the United States is boosted to cause addiction even faster.
In fact, in the United Kingdom JUUL addiction rates among teenagers is under 2%. In the United States teen JUUL addiction rates are at a terrifying 28%. These epidemic levels of addiction in the U.S. are caused, in part, because JUUL uses three-times the amount of nicotine in their products in the United States as it does in the United Kingdom. JUUL also overcame the challenges other brands had in marketing to children by designing their products to look like USB drives, making them easy to hide from parents and teachers, while making them look “safe” to kids. Then they formulated the “vape-juice” in JUUL pods to produce very little of the billowing “smoke” vapor that previous brands caused, making it easy to puff on JUULs secretly in school bathrooms, on playgrounds, and even out in the open in school hallways. JUULs in America are designed to be child nicotine addiction machines.
JUULs and other e-cigarettes have also been implicated in increasing the risk of serious harm to health in both kids and adults. They can increase the risks of strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular disease. They can cause lung damage. They increase the risks of some cancers. They have been implicated in seizure disorders. And, despite early claims to the contrary, they can expose others to second-hand lung and heart damaging particles, cancer causing chemicals and nicotine.
What are the state lawsuits against JUUL in Minnesota and Wisconsin?
Thirty-nine states, including Wisconsin and Minnesota, have filed lawsuits against JUUL, claiming that the manufacturer deceptively marketed nicotine-containing vape products to underage kids, resulting in a youth vaping epidemic.
While JUUL denies claims that the company marketed its products to teens, the lawsuits present evidence that the company purchased ad space on websites geared towards junior high and high school students.
An estimated 5.3 million teens use e-cigarettes. A 2018 study in the National Academy of Medicine found that young people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future. About 2/3 of JUUL users ages 15-24 do not know that JUUL always contains nicotine, which has been proven to be highly addictive and can harm brain development, which continues until age 25.
Contact us now…
Call us today at 1-888-377-8900 or text us at 612-261-0856. You can also email our Minnesota and Wisconsin JUUL legal team at: attorneys@pritzkerlaw.com