Kentucky Juul Addiction & Vaping Illness Attorney

Are you or a loved one suffering from the vaping related lung disease known as EVALI (“e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury”)? Are you addicted to nicotine from using Juul or another type of e-cigarette? The personal injury attorneys in Kentucky at McCoy, Hiestand, & Smith, with offices in Louisville and Bardstown, are filing lawsuits on behalf of Kentucky residents who developed vaping-related lung disease as well as those who have become addicted to nicotine from vaping.

Kentucky Juul Teen Addiction Lawsuit

The nicotine-based e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, Inc. controls over 70% of the market share of vaping devices in the U.S. Juul engaged in a targeted marketing campaign directed at teens and young adults that has resulted in a nicotine addiction epidemic in Louisville, the state of Kentucky, and across the United States.

Vaping (or “juuling”) is part of the daily lives of Kentucky teenagers. In a Louisville community conversation that was attended by students from across Kentucky, both middle and high school students talked about knowing classmates who vape. Event organizers noted that the rates of Kentucky high school students who vape doubled from 2016 to 2018, with American Lung Association representative Shannon Baker commenting that Kentucky “kids have experienced the marketing and the enticing flavors and all of the things that have led to a whole new generation of tobacco users.”

Juul targeted teens via social media through the use of young models, bright colors, and sweet flavors like Fruit Medley, Mango, and Mint. As a result, Juul is now at the center of a rising number of consumer lawsuits. These suits allege that its marketing tactics and deceitful packaging led teens to develop intense and irreversible nicotine addiction.

On Sep. 9, 2019, the FDA issued a warning letter to Juul accusing the company of “marketing unauthorized modified risk tobacco products by engaging in labeling, advertising, and/or other activities directed to consumers,” including a presentation given to youth at a high school.

According to the letter, a Juul representative made the following statements to students:

• Juul “was much safer than cigarettes” and that “FDA would approve it any day.”
• Juul was “totally safe.”
• A student “…should mention Juul to his [nicotine-addicted] friend…because that’s a safer alternative than smoking cigarettes, and it would be better for the kid to use.”
• “FDA was about to come out and say it [Juul] was 99% safer than cigarettes…and that…would happen very soon….”

Juul is already facing consequences as a result of the national outcry against its products.  Juul recently confirmed plans to reduce hiring and cut its staff by 500 employees by the end of 2019. An increasingly unfavorable U.S. regulatory environment regarding vaping caused Philip Morris International to call off merger talks with Altria, Juul’s top investor. This would have created a $200 billion global power. Juul’s ex-CEO Kevin Burns, who resigned in September 2019, has apologized for the epidemic of youth nicotine addiction fueled by Juul: “I’m sorry for them, and I have empathy for them.”

How Addictive is Vaping?

Medical professionals worry that nicotine salts, like those used by Juul to make its e-cigarettes, are sentencing young people to a lifetime of nicotine. Experts warn that these substances could cross the blood-brain barrier and cause learning, memory and attention problems and lead young people to become addicted to other dangerous substances. To make matters worse, the newest generation of e-cigarettes reportedly has a higher level of nicotine than previous versions, making vaping even more addictive: one Juul pod has the same amount of nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes. As many as 495,000 teenagers who vaped by 2018 are anticipated to become future cigarette smokers.

If you are a Kentucky teenager addicted to Juul or vaping, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMcCoy & HiestandA) can direct you to a facility to assist you with quitting. The Truth Initiative is another resource available for those looking for ways to stop vaping. It offers a free, first-of-its-kind text messaging program set up to give teens the support they need to quit Juuling. The program can be accessed by texting “DITCHJUUL” to 88709. Locally, Tobacco Free Kentucky offers a list of in-state resources for those interested in quitting, such as the QuitNow Kentucky Tobacco Quit line.