Lexis Legal News : Mealey's Tobacco : Lawsuit Filings, Litigation, Settlements, Verdicts and Court News

Mealey's Tobacco

September 16, 2019
Jury Returns Defense Verdicts In Tobacco Case Family Pinned On Filter Advertising

MIAMI — A Florida jury on Aug. 23 returned a verdict for Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, after hearing from their attorneys that the man knew of the dangers of tobacco, knew he had to quit and lectured family members not to start smoking cigarettes (Mark Fields v. Philip Morris, et al., No. 2008-CA-1274, Fla. 11th Jud. Cir., Dade Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
September 16, 2019
Juul Urges JPMDL To Centralize E-Cigarette Cases In San Francisco

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Juul Labs Inc., the maker of a popular e-cigarette device that is facing at least 34 lawsuits all accusing the e-cigarette maker of creating an addictive product that is deceptively marketed to children, on Aug. 27 urged the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to transfer all cases to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (In Re: Juul Labs, Inc., No. 2913, JPMDL).
September 16, 2019
Philip Morris, Ex-Smoker Spar Over Reversal Of Fraud Claims

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a former smoker’s fraud claims that were part of a $17 million judgment against the tobacco company and remand for a new trial on all other issues, Philip Morris USA Inc. argues in a reply brief filed Aug. 14 (Donna Brown v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., No. 15-13160, 11th Cir.).
September 16, 2019
Time To Pay Up, Judge Tells Philip Morris, Rejecting Its Appeal Of $27M Verdict

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Philip Morris USA Inc. on Sept. 13 saw three motions filed in a Florida federal court that attempted to reverse a $27 million verdict rejected, with the federal judge saying that “simply put: it is time for Philip Morris to pay the judgment. And [it] is time for its lawyers to tell it to do so” (Bernard Cote v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., No. 09-cv-14157, M.D. Fla., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156682).
September 16, 2019
Disease, Choice Issues Kick Off Latest Florida Tobacco Trial

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — During opening statements on Sept. 12, a tobacco company asked a Florida jury to consider whether a man truly suffered from lung cancer, while the estate tasked the jury with deciding whether the man smoked cigarettes as a personal choice or because of the machinations of tobacco companies (Robert Miller v. R.J. Reynolds, No. 2008-CA-000401, Fla. 4th Jud. Cir., Duval Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
September 09, 2019
CDC Warns Against Vaping Use, Investigating 450 Cases Of Related Injuries

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sept. 6 urged the public to stop using e-cigarette products while the agency investigates more than 450 cases of possible vaping-related illnesses in 33 states; hours after a press conference to discuss the initial findings of its investigations, the CDC confirmed the fifth death linked to vaping.
September 09, 2019
Vaping Company Challenges FDA’s Rule Regulating Industry Products

JACKSON, Miss. — A vaping company and manufacturer and a newly formed trade association sued the Food and Drug Administration on Aug. 18, telling a Mississippi federal court that the FDA violated Article I of the U.S. Constitution in May 2016 when it published a final rule deeming all products meeting the statutory definition of “tobacco product” to be subject to the Tobacco Control Act (Big Time Vape Inc. and United States Vaping Association v. Food and Drug Administration, et al., No. 19-531, S.D. Miss.).
September 03, 2019
Appeals Court Reverses $40.9M Verdict Against Tobacco Company In Engle Case

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals court on Aug. 28 found that a trial court erred in limiting a tobacco company’s ability to defend against a decedent’s class membership after it withdrew its affirmative defense of comparative negligence, reversing a $40.9 million verdict (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Leslie Schlefstein, as personal representative of the estate of Dawn Schlefstein, No. 4D18-1150, Fla. App., 4th Dist., 2019 Fla. App. LEXIS 13209).
August 28, 2019
Juul's Bid To Dismiss Class Claims In California Largely Denied By Judge

SAN FRANCISCO — In an Aug. 23 order, a federal judge in California found that JUUL Labs Inc. is entitled to dismissal, in part, of purported class claims of negligence per se and breach of express warranty, but ruled that plaintiffs in the case may proceed with several other allegations against the e-cigarette maker, including that JUUL breach an implied warranty and violated various consumer protection laws (Bradley Colgate, et al. v. JUUL Labs Inc., No. 18-2499, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144027).
August 26, 2019
2nd Circuit Sends Tobacco Case Back To District Court

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 22 found that a district court misapplied the nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel standard in a lawsuit against a tobacco company that ended in a defense verdict but ruled that the court’s error does not require vacating the judgment and remanded the case for the lower court to consider whether the application of that standard would be unfair (Vincent J. Bifolck v. Philip Morris USA Inc., No. 17‐3927, 2nd Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 25023).
August 19, 2019
Judge Denies Juul’s Motion To Stay Case Pending MDL Decision

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A federal judge in Alabama on Aug. 14 denied Juul Labs Inc.’s motion to stay proceedings until the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) decides whether to transfer 10 pending lawsuits, all accusing the e-cigarette maker of creating an addictive product that is deceptively marketed to children, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for coordination or consolidation (Savannah West v. Juul Labs Inc, et al., No. 19-505, M.D. Ala.).
August 19, 2019
Family Points To Advertising’s Role In Man’s Tobacco Use

MIAMI — The family of a lung cancer victim and two tobacco companies squared off in a Florida court Aug. 15 over the extent of advertising and marketing’s impact on a man’s use of their tobacco products (Mark Fields v. Philip Morris, et al., No. 2008-CA-1274, Fla. 11th Jud. Cir., Dade Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
August 18, 2019
Federal Judge Ceases All Briefing In Juul Case Pending Decision By JPMDL

TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida on Aug. 8 agreed to defer all briefing in a lawsuit that accuses the maker of the popular e-cigarette Juul and its tobacco company investor of creating a youth electronic cigarette use epidemic pending a decision by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on whether the case will be transferred and consolidated into a suit pending in a California federal court (Erin NesSmith, et al. v. Juul Labs Inc., et al., No. 8:19-cv-00884, M.D. Fla.).
August 16, 2019
Tribal Company’s Claims Over California’s Taxes Fail For Lack Of Jurisdiction

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California can enforce various state laws implementing a tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) on a federally chartered corporation owned by the Big Sandy Rancheria Band of Western Mono Indians, a federal judge ruled Aug. 13 in dismissing the corporation’s declaratory relief action (Big Sandy Rancheria Enterprises v. Xavier Becerra, et al., No. 1:18-cv-00958, E.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136741).
August 16, 2019
FDA Proposes Graphic New Health Warnings For Cigarette Packages, Advertisements

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Aug. 15 issued a proposed rule requiring new, graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertisements.
August 15, 2019
Jury Awards $21 Million Against Philip Morris In Massachusetts Tobacco Trial

BOSTON — A Massachusetts jury on Aug. 14 hit tobacco defendant Philip Morris Tobacco Co. with $11 million in compensatory damages and another $10 million in punitive damages after hearing testimony that the plaintiff started smoking when a company salesman handed him free packs of the product (Fred Laramie v. Philip Morris, No. 1784CV02240, Mass. Super., Suffolk Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
August 07, 2019
Smoker’s Widower: Jury Instructions, Denial Of New Trial Not Abuse Of Discretion

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A trial court judge did not abuse his discretion in delivering jury instructions and denying a motion for a new trial based on allegations of attorney misconduct, the widower of a smoker who was awarded $20 million in an Engle progeny case tells a Florida appellate court in a May 30 answer brief that includes a conditional cross-appeal (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al. v. Herbert Landi, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Marion Landi, No. 4D18-2507, Fla. App., 4th Dist., 2019 FL App. Ct. Briefs LEXIS 1350).
August 05, 2019
Florida Jury Clears R.J. Reynolds In Tobacco Case

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida jury hearing a retrial of a tobacco case against R.J. Reynolds on Aug. 1 cleared the company of liability for a woman’s lung cancer (Julie Adamson v. R.J. Reynolds, No. 2016CA008532, Fla. Cir., Palm Beach Co., 15th Jud. Cir.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
August 05, 2019
Asbestos-Stomach Cancer Suit Proceeds Despite Tile Maker Putting Blame On Tobacco

NEW YORK —A man’s testimony and experts create sufficient questions around whether asbestos and not tobacco use caused his stomach cancer, a New York justice held in an opinion posted Aug. 1 (Manfred Lauke, et al. v. Amchem Products Inc., et al., No. 190425/2014, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.).
July 31, 2019
California Tribe: Federal Agency Illegally Reneged On Tobacco-Related Settlement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A tribal-owned cigarette company sued the U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in District of Columbia federal court July 24 seeking a permanent injunction and enforcement of a purported settlement agreement that would maintain its permit to manufacture tobacco products (Azuma Corp. v. United States Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco and Tax Trade Bureau, et al., No. 1:19-cv-02209, D. D.C.).