The state of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against Juul Labs, saying that the e-cigarette maker intentionally marketed its products towards teens, and misrepresented how safe they were.

CNN notes that Pennsylvania’s Juul e-cig lawsuit follows similar claims made around the country, including lawsuits filed by the states of California and New York against Juul.

According to the state of Pennsylvania, Juul violated the state’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. The state also alleges that the company was negligent in not properly representing their products’ dangers, creating a public nuisance, breaching its special duty to the public, was unjustly enriched by the sale of e-cigarettes and should be held liable for its products.

How Did Juul Mislead Customers According to Pennsylvania?

Specifically, Pennsylvania argued that Juul had violated state law by misleading customers into thinking that there is less nicotine in the company’s e-cigarettes than there is in reality. Allegedly, the company did this by calculating nicotine differently than it usually calculated in an effort to confuse consumers.

The state says that most e-cigarette producers calculate nicotine content as a percentage by volume. However, Juul allegedly lists nicotine content as a percent by weight, which can lead the product to look like it contains less nicotine than it does.

The state’s Juul e-cig lawsuit also claimed that Juul disguised the nicotine content in its e-cigarettes by offering e-cigarettes in sweet flavors. According to the state, the sweet flavors disguised nicotine’s characteristically bitter taste.

Pennsylvania then goes on to say that Juul not only used its sweet flavors to disguise the nicotine content, but to appeal to a young audience. According to the state, Juul went after a teen audience in an effort to not compete with Big Tobacco’s audience, adults already hooked on cigarettes.

The state’s representatives alleged that Juul effectively caused teens to face lifelong nicotine addictions by exposing them to unexpectedly high nicotine levels. Allegedly, teens are particularly vulnerable to nicotine addictions because their brains are still forming, as noted by the CDC’s website.

In the words of Pennsylvania’s representation, “for non-smokers, especially youth and young adults, [Juul’s] misleading marketing and advertising set them on the potentially lifelong path of nicotine dependence by rapidly delivering high doses of nicotine to their bloodstream, laced with sweet, fruity, and minty flavoring compounds to help the bitter aerosol go down more easily.”

In their claims against Juul, the state touched on the common claim that e-cigarettes actually worsen or cause nicotine addictions, instead of help stop them. The state noted that e-cigarettes often are advertised as less-harmful ways of satisfying a nicotine addiction than smoking, and even are advertised as a smoking cessation tool. However, the state argues that their high nicotine content means that they are not effective for this purpose, and may do more harm than good.

Are There Other Issues with Juul’s Marketing?

Further pointing to the alleged legal issues with Juul’s marketing, the state of Pennsylvania’s Juul e-cigarette lawsuit notes that the FDA requires companies to present scientific information to the FDA before making claims about the health risks, or lack thereof, of tobacco products. According to Pennsylvania, Juul did not provide this information and made “overt and implicit safety and health claims” that are not approved by the FDA and were misleading to consumers.

The Pennsylvania Juul Health Effects Lawsuit is Case No. 200200962, in the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

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.

Learn More

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