E-Cigarette Litigation

July 20, 2019

An Explosion of E-Cigarette Product Liability Lawsuits Sweep the U.S.

Injuries stemming from dangerous and defective e-cigarettes, also known as “vaping pens,” have been mounting nationally. In Massachusetts, meanwhile, the state attorney general is suing a number of e-cigarette manufacturers for allegedly marketing their products to teens under 18, which is against the law in the commonwealth.

In fact, it is teenagers and young adults who are bearing the brunt of these injuries, which include burns, scarring, dental and facial injuries caused when the devices explode. Massachusetts product liability attorneys have opined in previous litigation that the devices are prone to explosion, thanks to unsafe lithium batteries.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to consumers in late 2017, indicating that while occurrences of exploding vapes “appear rare,” they have proven extremely dangerous. While causes are not yet fully clear, the agency noted there is evidence that battery-related issues may lead or contribute to these instances.

And yet, the agency does not tally the number of incidents, nor does it regulate their sales. Continue reading

February 7, 2018

Litigating Cases Against the Tobacco Industry

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Cases against big tobacco companies are not as common as they were in the 1990s and early 2000s, but people are still dying from lung cancer and suffering from other smoking-related illnesses such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and cases are still being filed by products liability attorneys across the nation including our Greater Boston area. The main issue in these cases is how to deal with any fault attributed to plaintiff. While there was a time when the general public was not aware of the harm smoking could cause, and there was even a time when R.J. Reynolds used to advertise “More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette,” the dangers of smoking have long since been publicized.

Smith v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

In Smith v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a case from the U.S. Court of Appeals from the Eleventh Circuit, surviving spouse of plaintiff filed a products liability lawsuit against the tobacco company which produced her preferred brand of cigarettes. She smoked regularly for decades and eventually died of various diseases often associated with long-term smoking of cigarettes. At trial, a jury found in favor of plaintiff, but defendant appealed arguing the jury award should be reduced due to plaintiff’s alleged in negligence in choosing to smoke on a regular basis for many years. This particular case was filed under a theory of wrongful death. Continue reading

February 7, 2017

Report: E-Cigarette Explodes in Worker’s Face, Causing Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In the last few years the use of nicotine vaporizers has become extremely popular to the point where we frequently see so-called “vape” shops in strip malls and shopping mall kiosks across the nation including the greater Boston area.

In some cases, people are vaping to quit smoking or reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke in a day. They see vaping as a means of ultimately quitting smoking. For others, they simply like to vape and have no intention of stopping. There are variety of reasons vaping nicotine has become so popular in recent years. Continue reading