JUUL and E-Cigarette Injury Lawyers

Florida Vaping Lawsuit Attorneys Whittel & Melton

What are E-Cigs?

E-cigarettes are electronic devices that heat up a liquid and produce an aerosol, which is then inhaled by the user. These come in many shapes and sizes. Some look like USB flash drives or pens, and others can look like regular cigarettes, cigars or pipes. Most have a battery, a heating element, and a place to hold a liquid. They have a variety of nicknames including e-cigs, e-hookahs, mods, vape pens, vapes, tank systems, and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). Using an e-cigarette is most commonly called vaping or JUULing.

Vaping Lung Damage Lawyers

Vaping has been marketed as a safer option than smoking traditional cigarettes. Many young people have picked up vaping without ever even having touched a cigarette. The sad truth is that vaping is not safe. In fact, vaping can cause severe lung damage.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 1,604 cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury from 49 states (all except Alaska), the District of Columbia, and 1 U.S. territory as of October 22, 2019. Thirty-four deaths have also been confirmed in 24 states (as of October 22, 2019).

If you began smoking Juul e-cigarettes or another brand because you believed they were safe, but have since been diagnosed with lung disease or pulmonary injury, our Florida Vaping Lung Damage Lawyers at Whittel & Melton are here to help you hold large e-cigarette companies like Juul accountable for the suffering they have caused you.

Dangerous Chemicals in E-Cigarette Aerosol

Regular cigarette smoke contains a cancer-causing mix of 7,000 chemicals. While e-cigarette aerosol has fewer toxic chemicals, it is still filled with dangerous chemicals, including:

• Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs
• Various flavorings like fruit, candy, and other kid-friendly flavors, such as mango, fruit and crème which contain diacetyl, a chemical that has been linked to a serious lung disease
• Cancer-causing chemicals
• Volatile organic compounds
• Heavy metals including nickel, tin, and lead
• Nicotine – an addictive drug in regular cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products

The CDC has noted that it is difficult for e-cigarette users to know what these products actually contain. Some e-cigarettes that have been marketed as containing zero percent nicotine have been found to contain nicotine. Then there are the “street vapes,” which can contain a wide range of toxic chemicals.

For all users, especially children and teens, exposure to e-cigarettes and vaping can be quite hazardous. Furthermore, the CDC warns that acute nicotine exposure can be toxic, and swallowing, breathing, or absorbing e-cigarette liquid can be poisonous for children and adults.

JUUL E-Cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to Juul for illegally marketing its e-cigarettes as less harmful than tobacco cigarettes, and must find a way to correct that violation. The FDA issued the following statement regarding JUUL e-cigarettes: “Regardless of where products like e-cigarettes fall on the continuum of tobacco product risk, the law is clear that, before marketing tobacco products for reduced risk, companies must demonstrate with scientific evidence that their specific product does in fact pose less risk or is less harmful. JUUL has ignored the law, and very concerningly, has made some of these statements in school to our nation’s youth.”

JUUL pods, also known as e-liquid cartridges, come in a variety of flavors like cool mint, crème brulee and fruit medley, and each pod contains about as much nicotine as one pack of cigarettes. JUUL pods also contain a mix of glycerol and propylene glycol, nicotine, benzoic acid, and flavorings.

Lung Damage from Vaping

While e-cigarettes are a relatively new tobacco product that have been sold in the U.S. for about a decade, the American Lung Association has been very troubled by recent findings regarding the impact of e-cigarettes on the lungs. In January 2018, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine released a consensus study report that reviewed over 800 different studies which did make it very clear that using e-cigarettes carries serious health risks. The reports found that e-cigarettes both contain and emit a number of potentially toxic substances and there is evidence that youth who use e-cigarettes are at increased risk for cough and wheezing and an increase in asthma exacerbations.

Other studies also backup these claims that vaping is hazardous to your health:

• A study from the University of North Carolina found that the two primary ingredients found in e-cigarettes, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, are toxic to cells. The more ingredients in an e-liquid mean the greater the toxicity.
• Another study determined that e-cigarettes produce a number of dangerous chemicals including acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde, which can cause lung disease, as well as cardiovascular disease.
• Another study concluded that e-cigarettes contain acrolein, an herbicide primarily used to kill weeds. This can cause acute lung injury and COPD and may cause asthma and lung cancer.
• Both the U.S. Surgeon General and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine warn of the risks associated with inhaling secondhand e-cigarette emissions. In 2016, the Surgeon General concluded that secondhand emissions contain, “nicotine; ultrafine particles; flavorings such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to serious lung disease; volatile organic compounds such as benzene, which is found in car exhaust; and heavy metals, such as nickel, tin, and lead.”

Legal Help for JUUL Users Diagnosed with Lung Damage

If you are a parent of a teen that has started using an e-cigarette, your hope is that they do not get addicted or suffer any health issues. JUUL and other e-cigarettes have marketed their products as “safe” and a better alternative to smoking cigarettes, but the health community has debunked these false advertising practices by showing that these products may result in potentially devastating health effects, including heart and lung problems, seizure, and stroke. The sad truth is that JUUL’s advertising strategies were designed to target teen users through catchy social media ads and sweet and fruity flavors, purposely omitting that JUUL also contains nicotine. While JUUL is the top-selling e-cigarette manufacturer in the U.S., there are many other manufacturers of e-cigarettes and flavors, as well as chemical manufacturers, that may be contributing to the health concerns arising from vaping.

Anyone suffering from lung disease or damage from vaping is in for a lifetime of medical treatment and a diminished quality of life. The damage these products have on the lungs is irreversible. Our Florida JUUL and E-Cigarette Injury Lawyers at Whittel & Melton can fight to hold JUUL and other e-cigarette companies accountable for any harm they have caused you or your loved ones.

Every single case we handle has its own unique sets of facts, but we will work to pursue the following types of financial compensation for victims of these dangerous products:

• Payment for all medical expenses
• Compensation for future health care costs
• Lost Wages
• Pain and suffering

If you or your teenage son, daughter, niece, or nephew has been diagnosed with lung damage or pulmonary disease due to vaping, we urge you to take action to protect your legal rights. First, we recommend retaining copies of your medical records that have your diagnosis and treatment plan. Along with this, create a file of all your medical bills and expenses, and document any time you have missed from work due to your illness. Make a timeline of when you started vaping and lost any vaping products you used. If you have any products that you used still in your possession, save them.

We encourage you to speak with our Florida Vaping Lawsuit Attorneys Whittel & Melton as soon as possible. There are time constraints placed on how long you have to file a claim after you are diagnosed with a vaping illness. We can start working on your claim right away. Let us help you pursue your legal right to financial compensation.

Talk to Our JUUL and E-Cigarette Injury Lawyers at Whittel & Melton Today for Free

To tell us your story on how JUUL or e-cigarette use lead to your suffering, call us at 866-608-5529 or contact us online today. We will meet with you for free and answer any questions you may have and explain the process for pursuing financial compensation.

We have several consultation offices throughout the state of Florida and are equipped to handle cases in Florida state and federal court.