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Mealey's Tobacco

  • April 18, 2024

    Florida Panel Upholds $1.3M Jury Verdict To Smoker’s Daughter

    MIAMI — A Florida Third District Court of Appeals panel on April 17 affirmed a jury’s $1.3 million verdict issued in favor of a dead smoker’s daughter, rejecting arguments by two tobacco companies that the jury was exposed to improper evidence of inflammatory closing arguments.

  • April 18, 2024

    Menthol Vape Company Tells High Court 3rd Circuit Wrongly Upheld FDA Ban

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A vape company filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to review a split Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s ruling upholding the Food and Drug Administration ban of its menthol-flavored vape products, arguing that there “is a clear circuit split” on the propriety of FDA standards for banning flavored e-cigarette products.

  • April 17, 2024

    Florida Jury Awards $34 Million To Estate Of Smoker In Engle Case

    GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A Florida state court jury issued a punitive damages award to the widow and two children of a dead smoker of nearly $26 million, bringing its total verdict in the smoker’s estate’s favor to more than $34 million after a second trial against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) for causing the smoker’s death in his late 30s from smoking-related cancer that spread to his brain.

  • April 16, 2024

    Bidi Urges 11th Circuit To Overturn FDA Ban Of Tobacco-Flavored E-Cigs

    ATLANTA — Bidi Vapor LLC on April 15 filed a merits brief in support of its petition to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) banning sales of its tobacco flavored Bidi sticks products, arguing that the court should set aside the MDO in part because the FDA did not properly test its products to determine the risk or benefit they pose to public health.

  • April 16, 2024

    FDA Says High Court Need Not Review 9th Circuit Affirmance Of Flavored Vape Ban

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration in an April 15 response brief urges the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a flavored e-liquid maker’s petition for a writ of certiorari, arguing that the high court should instead grant certiorari on the FDA’s separate petition seeking review of an en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling reversing an FDA ban because that case presents the “full range of legal issues” involved.

  • April 12, 2024

    Judge Says NJOY Can’t Email UCL Suit To Chinese Vape Makers

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge denied as “premature” a motion by e-cigarette maker NJOY LLC, an Altria Group Inc. subsidiary, to permit alternative service to several Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers it accuses of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and federal cigarette regulations by illegally selling “Elf Bar” and other brands of flavored disposable vapes (FDVs).

  • April 08, 2024

    Florida Court Won’t Rehear Tobacco Company’s Challenge To $2.5M Engle Verdict

    MIAMI — A Florida appellate panel on April 5 denied two tobacco companies’ motion for rehearing of their challenge to a jury’s $2.5 million compensatory damages verdict against them in favor of the estate of a smoker who died in 1993 from lung cancer, which the panel affirmed after rejecting arguments that the smoker was actually a New Yorker and that the jury heard improper, inflammatory testimony.

  • April 08, 2024

    New York City Sues Wholesalers In State Court For Selling Flavored, Disposable Vapes

    NEW YORK — New York City filed a complaint in state court seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties against 11 New York state-based wholesalers of flavored and disposable e-cigarette products, which it describes as the “most popular electronic nicotine delivery device among young people,” that the defendants have illegally resold in the city.

  • April 04, 2024

    Court Enters Defense Judgment In Smoker’s Widower’s Wrongful Death Suit

    BOSTON — A Massachusetts state court judge on April 3 entered judgment in favor of two tobacco companies and a local retailer, dismissing all claims brought by the widower of a dead smoker who started smoking around age 10 and smoked for 50 years before dying at 65 from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

  • April 04, 2024

    Judgment Entered Dismissing Smoker’s Daughter’s Suit Against Tobacco Company

    BOSTON — A Massachusetts state court entered a judgment in favor of a tobacco company after a jury awarded no damages to the daughter of a dead smoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer more than 25 years after quitting smoking.

  • April 03, 2024

    Health Groups Accuse FDA Of ‘Unlawfully Delaying’ Menthol Cigarette Ban

    SAN FRANCISCO — Three health advocacy organizations on April 2 filed a second lawsuit in California federal court accusing the Food and Drug Administration, affiliated agencies and their leaders of unlawfully delaying a federal ban of menthol cigarettes, writing that the FDA has failed to act on its announced plans to issue a rule banning menthols by August 2023.

  • April 02, 2024

    Vice Chancellor Denies Philip Morris’ Bid To Intervene In Brand Liability Dispute

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A vice chancellor of the Delaware Chancery Court on April 1 denied as untimely a motion by Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM) to intervene in litigation between Reynolds American Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (collectively, RJR) and ITG Brands LLC regarding ITG’s liability under a settlement with Florida for sales of cigarette brands ITG bought from RJR.

  • April 01, 2024

    First Nations’ Cigarette Maker Says New Oregon ‘Equity’ Law Violates Due Process

    EUGENE, Ore. — A Canadian First Nations-owned cigarette manufacturer filed a suit in Oregon federal court against the state, accusing it of violating due process and the commerce clause by imposing a new nonrefundable payment requirement based on cigarette sales that replaces a decades-old law whereby such payments by cigarette manufacturers went into escrow and were eventually refunded.

  • March 29, 2024

    Small E-Liquid Makers Urge Court To Find FDA Rules Unfairly ‘Burdensome’

    SHERMAN, Tex. — A Texas federal judge accepted as timely a brief filed by a group of small e-liquid makers and a vaping industry association, in which they oppose a cross-motion for summary judgment filed by the Food and Drug Administration and two officials seeking dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims that federal regulation of vaping is so “burdensome” it effectively bars small companies from entering the market.

  • March 28, 2024

    Split Florida Panel Reverses $43M Verdict To Dead Smoker’s Son Due To Hearsay

    MIAMI — A split Florida Third District Court of Appeal panel on March 27 reversed a $43 million compensatory and punitive damages verdict in favor of the estate of a dead smoker after finding that the trial court reversibly erred by permitting the smoker’s sons to proffer hearsay evidence indicating that their mother was harmed by her reliance on a tobacco company’s misleading claims about the benefits of cigarette filters.

  • March 26, 2024

    High Court Shouldn’t Review 2nd Circuit Affirmance Of Flavored Vape Ban, FDA Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration on March 25 filed a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court opposing a flavored vape company’s petition for a writ of certiorari, stating that the court should instead grant certiorari in a petition the FDA filed challenging a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling reversing its bans of e-cigarette products because that case is “the only vehicle for deciding the full range of legal issues raised.”

  • March 22, 2024

    5th Circuit Reverses Vacatur Of New Graphic Warnings For Tobacco Products

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 21 reversed the vacatur of Food and Drug Administration graphic warnings requirement for tobacco products, writing that the warnings depicting lesser-known health risks of tobacco use “survive constitutional muster against the First Amendment challenge” brought by tobacco companies and remanding the case.

  • March 22, 2024

    FDA Urges Supreme Court To Find Flavored E-Cig Bans Not ‘Arbitrary’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration filed a petition for a writ of certiorari urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that its ban of two vape companies’ flavored e-liquids was “arbitrary and capricious,” arguing that the high court should resolve a circuit split on the issue and side with the majority of circuit courts that have affirmed similar bans.

  • March 22, 2024

    Tobacco Companies Say Smoker’s Daughter Not Entitled To $2.1M Verdict

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Two tobacco companies in a brief filed to the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal challenge a $2.1 million compensatory damages verdict they were ordered to pay the widower of a dead smoker who died while the appeal was pending, arguing that the estate’s new representative, his daughter, is not the smoker’s statutory survivor and therefore can claim only roughly $7,000 in funeral expenses.

  • March 18, 2024

    E-Cig MDL Judge Issues Order Granting Final Approval Of $45M Altria Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries issued written final approval of a $45 million settlement to resolve economic loss claims brought by class members who purchased JLI products in reliance upon misleading information about its addictiveness and health risks.

  • March 15, 2024

    Florida Supreme Court Won’t Reinstate Engle Lawyer Due To Improper Rehabilitation

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court denied a petition for reinstatement to the state bar by an attorney who was suspended in 2022 for filing thousands of Engle progeny lawsuits “without investigating or informing himself as to the facts of each case and for knowingly misrepresenting the viability of the claims.”

  • March 13, 2024

    En Banc 5th Circuit Panel Won’t Amend Ruling Reversing Flavored E-Cig Ban

    NEW ORLEANS — Members of the en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority that previously reversed a Food and Drug Administration ban of two vape companies’ flavored e-cigarette products as arbitrary and capricious on March 12 denied the companies’ motion to clarify the opinion’s reference to FDA approval of menthol e-cigarette products, writing that the reference was to a heat-not-burn product.

  • March 11, 2024

    E-Cig MDL Judge: ‘Millions Of Fraudulent Claims’ Filed In $45M Altria Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries said at a hearing that he would grant final approval to a $45 million settlement with Altria and is “inclined” to approve a 30% attorney fee award, while also advising plaintiffs’ counsel to contact federal prosecutors regarding “millions of fraudulent claims” that were submitted.

  • March 11, 2024

    Mass. High Court Upholds Town’s Ban On Tobacco Sales To People Born After 2000

    BOSTON — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on March 8 upheld a Brookline, Mass., town bylaw banning sales of tobacco products to people born after 2000, rejecting arguments by local tobacco retailers that the town’s law is arbitrary and preempted by state law.

  • March 11, 2024

    Judge Won’t Overturn Jury’s $2.3M Verdict In Tobacco Rolling Papers Dispute

    ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge denied two defense motions asking the court to deem excessive or reduce a $2.3 million jury verdict against them for trademark infringement against a rolling papers company and order a new trial, finding that the jury properly weighed the evidence and that its verdict was proper.