A Florida couple has filed a lawsuit against JUUL Labs, the leading e-cigarette seller in the country, after their 15-year-old child became addicted to JUUL vaping products. The lawsuit alleges that deceptive marketing tactics by JUUL led their daughter to use and buy these e-cigarettes, eventually causing an addiction and even vaping seizures.

The plaintiffs, Erin and Jared N., allege that their daughter wasn’t aware that JUUL products contained nicotine when she first began using them—known as “JUULing”—and was attracted to the e-cigarette because of the fun flavors, like mango.

E-cigarettes turn liquid into a vaporized version of nicotine. But Erin and Jared say their daughter would sometimes accidentally swallow the liquid of the e-cigarette, and quickly became addicted. Now, they say, she suffers from seizures.

It may seem puzzling that someone could use a vape pen and not know it contained nicotine. However, Truth Initiative notes that they are often marketed in ways that highlight their appealing flavors — not the fact that they contain a dangerous chemical. So, a young person might be taken in by an advertisement and not understand the dangers associated with the device.

The couple has proposed a class action, alleging that e-cigarette companies have adopted Big Tobacco’s marketing practices to prey on today’s youth, placing them at serious risk.

Erin and Jared are not the only ones concerned about the risks of e-cigarettes. Researchers are looking into a possible link between e-cigarettes, or vape pens, and seizures.

USA Today notes that there is not yet sufficient data to  to indicate if vaping seizures are connected to a particular e-cigarette brand or vaping in general. What is concerning, however, is that these instances of seizures have reportedly occurred mostly in young people.

Parents and experts alike worry that vape pens and e-cigarettes are mainly marketed to teens and young adults and could cause young people to develop nicotine habits.

Vaping Seizures

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reports of vaping seizures have primarily involved youth and young adult users. The FDA is currently investigating these reports of seizures, which are a known side effect of nicotine poisoning.

Seizures may cause the full-body convulsions that they are most associated with, but may also present themselves as a lapse in awareness or consciousness. Seizures also range in length—they may be just a few seconds long, or may last up to a few minutes.

An FDA announcement on April 3 noted that so far, 35 individual reports of seizures have been filed in the last decade. Some of these reports indicated that seizures occurred nearly a day after usage, and others occurred almost immediately after the use of an e-cigarette.

The FDA encourages those who think someone is having a seizure to call 911 and seek immediate medical help.

Health Risks of E-Cigarettes

The use of e-cigarettes among children, teenagers, and other young people in the United States in the last decade has reached epidemic levels. Indeed, 3.62 million middle and high school students used e-cigarette products in 2018, the FDA reports.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of this figure is how much it has increased since 2017. E-cigarette use among high school students has grown by 78 percent since 2017, and by 48 percent among middle school students.

E-cigarettes are marketed as a way to quit smoking, but for youth who have never smoked a traditional cigarette in the first place, e-cigarettes may be a gateway to traditional cigarettes. E-cigarettes have a reputation for being healthier than traditional cigarettes, but may still cause irreversible lung damage and lung disease.

Additionally, Stanford Med notes that nicotine use in early adolescence can cause changes to a young person’s brain, because during adolescence, the brain is still developing. So, early nicotine use, including vape pens and e-cigarettes, makes it much more likely that a person will develop a life-long addiction to nicotine than if they had never used e-cigarettes. 

Filing a JUUL Seizures Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has suffered from side effects of JUUL e-cigarettes, including seizures, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation. Of course, filing a lawsuit cannot take away the suffering caused by an addiction to nicotine, but it can at least help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages, as well as start to hold the companies responsible accountable for their actions.

The Vaping Seizures Lawsuit is Case No. 8:19-cv-00884, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Join a Free JUUL E-Cigarette Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

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.