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Mealey's Tobacco

December 13, 2022
Supreme Court Won’t Enjoin California’s Voter-Backed Ban On Flavored Tobacco

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 12 denied an emergency application filed by tobacco companies and a retailers’ association seeking a writ of injunction pending appeal to bar California’s flavored tobacco ban from going into effect while the applicants’ Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenge to the law remains pending.
December 09, 2022
Judge Vacates FDA’s New Graphic Warnings Rule For Tobacco Products

TYLER, Texas — A Texas federal judge recently ruled that the Food and Drug Administration’s new graphic warnings rule for tobacco products violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and vacated the rule, after denying a government motion to dismiss or transfer a lawsuit filed by tobacco companies and retailers challenging the rule.
December 07, 2022
California Urges Supreme Court Not To Delay Voter-Backed Ban On Flavored Tobacco

SAN DIEGO — California on Dec. 6 urged the U.S. Supreme Court to deny an emergency application filed by tobacco companies and a retailers’ association seeking an injunction barring the state from banning sales of flavored tobacco products, writing that “not a single court has agreed” with the applicants’ argument that the Tobacco Control Act (TCA) preempts such bans and that any delay to the ban “imperils the health of more young people in California with each passing day.”
December 07, 2022
Tobacco Companies, U.S. End Dispute Over Court-Ordered ‘Corrective Statements’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Dec. 6 issued a court order implementing an agreement among tobacco companies, the United States and public health intervenors to comply with a 2006 court order requiring the placement of “corrective statements” at retail point-of-sale (POS) displays warning customers of the dangers of tobacco use.
December 07, 2022
Juul, MDL Plaintiffs Announce 4 Settlements Of Illegal Marketing Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and the co-lead counsel representing plaintiffs suing it in federal multidistrict litigation and a California state court coordinated proceeding announced Dec. 6 that they have reached four global settlements to resolve thousands of lawsuits against JLI for illegally marketing its products to youth and forcing government entities and tribes to divert resources to address youth vaping.
December 05, 2022
High Court Won’t Hear Cigar Maker’s Jurisdictional Challenge To Rival’s Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 5 denied a cigar maker’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of whether the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals properly heard a rival cigarillo maker and its parent company’s appeal challenging the vacatur of a $44 million verdict in their favor after they voluntarily dismissed their own claims.
December 05, 2022
Panel Reverses $3M Verdict To Dead Smoker’s Daughter For Lack Of Evidence

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida appellate panel reversed a jury’s nearly $3 million compensatory damages verdict in an Engle trial after finding that the court erred by not granting a tobacco company’s motion for directed verdict, writing that “the jury was left to speculate” after the smoker’s estate failed to present evidence of causation for his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
December 05, 2022
Panel: Philip Morris Can’t Get New Trial After Mistrial In Punitive Phase

MIAMI — A Florida appellate panel affirmed a trial court’s denial of a tobacco company’s motion for a new trial on liability and compensatory damages that it filed after the jury awarded a smoker’s estate more than $5.5 million but deadlocked on the issue of punitive damages, ruling that the court did not abuse its discretion.
December 02, 2022
Judge Dismisses Complaint By Smoker Who Allegedly Just Learned Of Health Risks

ANDERSON, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge has dismissed a pro se inmate’s lawsuit against two tobacco companies for failure to state a claim, in which the inmate claimed that he suffered health issues from smoking and was not aware of the risks of smoking until he saw a report on the risks of menthol cigarettes on the CBS news in April.
December 01, 2022
Defectively Designed Lucky Strikes Caused Smoker’s Cancer And Death, Jury Told

SANTA FE, N.M. — An attorney for the daughter of a late smoker told a New Mexico jury during opening arguments that a tobacco company caused the smoker’s slow and painful death from laryngeal cancer by defectively designing its cigarettes to be too addictive and too easily inhalable, while the company’s attorney said the smoker chose to smoke. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
December 01, 2022
Judge Finds Battery Maker Not Liable For Fatal Ship Fire Sparked By E-Cigarette

NEW ORLEANS— A Louisiana federal judge on Nov. 30 dismissed as moot the remaining motions relating to a Korean battery-maker and its U.S. subsidiary, one day after dismissing for lack of jurisdiction claims against them relating to the sale of a battery that caused an e-cigarette to explode on a tugboat, sparking a fire that killed one crew member and injured another.
November 30, 2022
Supreme Court Urged To Enjoin California’s Flavored Tobacco Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tobacco companies and a retailers’ association on Nov. 29 filed an emergency application to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan as justice for the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, asking for a writ of injunction barring California from enacting a statewide ban of flavored tobacco product sales while they seek to challenge the Ninth Circuit’s binding precedent upholding a similar ban that they say was wrongly decided (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, et al. v. Robert Bonta, et al., No. 22A474, U.S. Sup.).
November 29, 2022
L.A. Seeks Extension After High Court Requests Response In Flavored Tobacco Fight

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Los Angeles County and its Board of Supervisors on Nov. 28 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant it a one-month extension to file its response to three tobacco companies’ petition for a writ of certiorari challenging a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals split panel’s affirmance of L.A.’s ban on flavored tobacco products after the high court requested a response.
November 28, 2022
Florida Supreme Court Disposes Of Appeals Involving Split Over Engle Fraud Claims

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Nov. 23 disposed of four pending petitions involving Engle cases, applying its recent holding that Engle plaintiffs must prove individualized detrimental reliance to prevail on fraud claims, which was previously the subject of a split between state appellate courts.
November 22, 2022
Synthetic Nicotine Sellers Say Government Illegally Refused To Accept 12 Bundled PMTAs

TYLER, Texas — A distributor and a retailer of synthetic nicotine products jointly sued government agencies and officials for refusing to accept 12 bundled Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) the distributor filed, asserting that that the refusal violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and asking the court to stay the refusal to accept (RTA) order.
November 22, 2022
Tobacco Companies Seek 9th Circuit Affirmance In California Flavor Ban Fight

SAN DIEGO — Tobacco companies and a retailers’ association suing to block California’s statewide ban of flavored tobacco product sales are asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to promptly affirm a California federal court’s denial of their motion for an injunction of the state’s ban so that they “can promptly seek review in the Supreme Court,” citing binding circuit precedent.
November 22, 2022
Judge Dismisses Claims Against Korean Battery Maker For Burns From E-Cig Explosion

NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia federal judge dismissed a man’s claims against a South Korea-based battery maker for manufacturing the lithium-ion batteries that allegedly exploded in his e-cigarette device, causing severe burns to his leg, after finding that the plaintiff failed to establish the court’s jurisdiction over the battery-maker.
November 15, 2022
Tobacco Companies, California Ask For Denial In Flavor Ban Suit To Allow Appeal

SAN DIEGO — Tobacco companies and a retailers’ association on Nov. 14 filed a joint motion with the California attorney general and San Diego County district attorney asking a California federal court to enter an order denying the tobacco companies’ motion for a preliminary injunction so they may immediately appeal a statewide ban of sales of flavored tobacco products to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
November 15, 2022
Amici Urge High Court To Strike Down Flavored Tobacco Ban; L.A. Waives Response

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A nonprofit public interest firm, an e-cigarette industry association and a group of e-cigarette businesses and trade association on Nov. 14 filed amicus curiae briefs in support of three tobacco companies’ petition for a writ of certiorari challenging a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s affirmance of Los Angeles County’s ban on flavored tobacco products after the county waived its right to respond.
November 10, 2022
Tobacco Companies Sue After California Voters Approve Statewide Flavor Ban

SAN DIEGO — Tobacco companies and a retailers’ association on Nov. 9 sued California’s attorney general and San Diego County’s district attorney for an injunction barring enforcement of a statewide ban of sales of flavored tobacco products after voters passed Proposition 31 the day before, arguing that the ban is preempted by federal law.
November 09, 2022
Role Of Cigarette Use, Addiction In Asbestos Trial At Issue In Briefs

PHILADELPHIA — A lung cancer victim’s tobacco use, awareness of warnings and potential addiction to nicotine were focal points of recent briefing on an upcoming trial in a federal asbestos case in Pennsylvania alleging exposure in the Navy.
November 07, 2022
FTC Counsel Says Altria Exit From Juul Noncompete Doesn’t Moot Antitrust Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Counsel for the Federal Trade Commission argue in a recent response brief that tobacco company Altria Group Inc.’s recent withdrawal from a noncompete agreement with e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) after Altria’s $12.8 billion investment in JLI dwindled to 3% of its original value is irrelevant to a pending administrative appeal of the dismissal of the FTC’s antitrust claims against the companies.
November 04, 2022
R.J. Reynolds Seeks New Trial After $95M E-Cigarette Patent Infringement Verdict

GREENSBORO, N.C. — R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJR) is asking a North Carolina federal court for a new trial, remittitur or to issue judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) in its favor after a jury ordered it to pay more than $95 million to Altria Client Services LLC for infringing three of Altria’s patents for pod-based vape technology, including with RJR’s Vuse Alto e-cigarette.
November 04, 2022
Judge Denies Summary Judgment In Nicotine Pouch Makers’ Trade Secrets Dispute

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion for summary judgment filed in a trade secrets dispute between Swedish and American companies involved in manufacturing and selling nicotine pouches, concluding that the claims are not time-barred and that material facts in dispute preclude summary judgment.
November 03, 2022
Tobacco Companies Invite Amicus Briefs In High Court Challenge To L.A. Flavor Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three tobacco companies recently filed a blanket consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs in their pending U.S. Supreme Court petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s affirmance of the dismissal of their challenge to a ban on flavored tobacco products enacted by Los Angeles County, which they say conflicts with high court precedent.