A number of health experts and activists alike are criticizing Meharry Medical College for accepting the second-largest grant of its 143-year history from JUUL Labs, citing serious concerns over JUUL health risks.

The historically black medical school was proud to take the $7.5 million grant from JUUL Labs, noting in an announcement on June 7 that the grant would be used to examine social factors that affect public health and wellbeing, including studying the prevalence of e-cigarettes and other nicotine products.

However, this large grant comes from JUUL Labs, which is an ever-growing e-cigarette company owned in part by the tobacco company Altria. Health experts and activists both have responded to the school’s acceptance of the JUUL grant with severe backlash, noting that the tobacco industry has long targeted black communities, and concerns over JUUL health risks are too great to accept such a grant. Moreover, black people in the United States experience a higher rate of death from tobacco-related illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“JUUL doesn’t have African-Americans’ best interest in mind,” LaTroya Hester, a spokesperson for the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, told The New York Times. “The truth is that JUUL is a tobacco product, not much unlike its demon predecessors.”

The NAATPN is sending a protest letter to Meharry Medical College over its decision to accept the grant.

Meharry’s position on the matter is that the research the grant money funds will stay free of JUUL’s influence, and in so doing, will contribute work of importance to the understanding of nicotine, tobacco, and specifically e-cigarettes.

“We have historically found ourselves occupying the last seat at the table when research is conducted on emerging public health issues that profoundly affect minority communities,” wrote Dr. E.K. Hildreth Sr., president and chief executive of Meharry, in a letter to the college community. “We have paid a heavy price for being shut out.”

While Meharry maintains that its research into tobacco and nicotine products will be free of JUUL’s influence and oversight, several concerned public health groups consider this highly unlikely. Sharon Y. Eubanks, an advisory board member of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, called the idea that JUUL’s influence wouldn’t affect Meharry’s research a “fantasy.”

“JUUL is cozying up to the black community, and that makes it harder for some parts of the black community to call them out on their targeting of African-Americans,” Ms. Eubanks told the Times.

If you or someone you love has suffered from JUUL health risks like addiction, seizures, or more, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation. Of course, filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by nicotine addiction and its side effects, but it can at least help to alleviate the financial burden incurred by medical expenses, lost wages, and more.

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If you or your child suffered seizures after vaping with a JUUL e-cigarette, you may benefit from participating in a free JUUL class action lawsuit investigation.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented 
for informational purposes only.