Juul Added Nicotine Salts To Their E-Cigarettes To Make Them More Addictive

Juul Inc.'s primary goal has always been to hook users on its product regardless of any other health consequences

Friday, March 6, 2020 - Juul Inc. is being sued for gross negligence for causing the nicotine addiction of a teenager using the company's vape products. Plaintiff Matthew Sargent has filed suit for compensation for injuries and damages he sustained from using the products that he was told by the company were safe. The lawsuit states that "JUUL delivers a level of nicotine to the bloodstream as high or higher than traditional combustible cigarettes." Experts have analyzed the Juul vape pen and determined that a single vape cartridge delivers a hit of nicotine as great or greater than smoking an entire pack of potent Marlboro cigarettes. Not only did Juul know about the increased nicotine dosage and fail to warn the plaintiff and millions of other teenagers targeted through social media advertising, but also deliberately added chemicals to their e-cigarettes that enabled the user to take a much deeper and nicotine-addiction satisfying hit without the usual immediate effect of burning the throat and lungs, creating a feeling of nausea, or dizziness. These additives are thought to be responsible for the instantaneous and astronomical growth in e-cigarettes sales to traditional cigarette smokers, and also minors and teenagers to the tune of billions of dollars in sales per year. Financial analysts have reported that prior to including the chemical additives, the company was thought not to be a viable concern. Juul vape pen attorneys offer a no obligation and free consultation to families and individuals nationwide before filing a claim and work on contingency.

The ingredients in Juul must be submitted to the FDA before the product could be brought to market but there was no requirement that they are made public according to an article in QZ.com. Juul online lists the ingredients of its proprietary e-liquid as "(consisting) mainly of glycerin, propylene glycol and a mixture of nicotine, benzoic acid, and flavor additives. These chemicals are all thought to be safe when ingested orally but according to one prominent scientist can irritate the lining of the lungs when inhaled. The article's author, Robert Tarran, a cell biologist at the University of North Carolina, states that "both glycerin and propylene glycol are generally recognized as safe by the FDA, but just because something is safe to eat, it doesn't mean it's safe to inhale."

Tarran's analysis of a vape cartridge's nicotine content restated what we have known for decades. Nicotine is an addictive substance that creates a lifetime of life-altering substance abuse issues for its users and is particularly dangerous for young, developing brains of minors and teenagers, a market Juul deliberately targeted. "... Long term, nicotine can damage parts of the heart, lungs, and circulatory systems, and can hurt fetal development in pregnant people who. But the biggest drawback of nicotine is how addictive it is. The US surgeon general has classified nicotine as just as addictive as cocaine or heroin. Teenagers, whose brains are still developing, are at a heightened risk of getting hooked on nicotine, and early research has shown that nicotine addiction may result in lifelong problems concentrating."

Investigators at Reuters recently wrote about the chemical additive of "nicotine salts" to lessen the impact of increased dosages of nicotine. Juul sales initially suffered because the nicotine dose was inadequate to urge users to switch from traditional cigarettes and vape users were sickened when inhaling an increased nicotine dosage. "Developers of the Juul tackled both problems with a strategy they found scouring old tobacco-company research and patents: (Presumable provided by stockholder Phillip Morris) adding organic acids to nicotine, which allowed for a unique combination of smooth taste and a potent dose."

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OnderLaw, LLC is a St. Louis personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. The Onder Law Firm has represented clients throughout the United States in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation such as Pradaxa, Lexapro and Yasmin/Yaz, where the firm's attorneys held significant leadership roles in the litigation, as well as Actos, DePuy, Risperdal and others. The firm has represented thousands of persons in these and other products liability litigation, including DePuy hip replacement systems, which settled for $2.5 billion and Pradaxa internal bleeding, which settled for $650 million. The Onder Law Firm won over $300 million in four talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits in St. Louis to date and other law firms throughout the nation often seek its experience and expertise on complex litigation.