,

Multiple School Districts Join in the Fight Against JUUL and Vaping

As the dire consequences of vaping become better known, more entities are joining in the fight against JUUL and e-cigarettes.

As reported in the Legal Examiner:

NPR reports: Multiple districts filed lawsuits on Monday, including school systems in Olathe, Kan.; St. Charles, Mo.; Long Island, N.Y.; and La Conner, Wash. Three of those suits charge that Juul has hooked a generation of young smokers with its sweet flavors, placing a burden on schools.

While JUUL claims their e-cigarettes were never marketed to children, Shannon Wickliffe, the president of the Olathe Public Schools Board of Education notes that with flavors like bubblegum and grape, JUUL was obviously marketing to children. Wickliffe states, “I understand it as a business strategy, but I think it’s kind of disgusting that you would try to addict our children knowing the health consequences.”

The consequences of youth using JUUL products, and e-cigarettes are dire, with the first youth vaping death reported in New York on October 4th.  Dr. Brandon Larson, a surgical pathologist at Mayo Clinic, who recently reviewed lung biopsies from 17 patients, has confirmed direct chemical injury to the lungs “similar to what one might see with exposure to toxic chemical fumes, poisonous gases and toxic agents.”

The newly formed Multidistrict Litigation involving JUUL will be procedurally similar to the MDLs formed in the Municipal Opioid Litigation and the Roundup Cancer litigation that Smith & Johnson is currently involved in. Smith & Johnson is currently interviewing potential Michigan claimants for inclusion in this Federal MDL re: JUUL e-cigarettes. If you have questions about this litigation and what rights you may have, please contact Attorney Tim Smith at (231) 946-0700 for a free consultation.

/by
,

Michigan Judge Suspends Gov. Whitmer’s Ban on Flavored E-cigarettes

Earlier this fall, on Sept 4th after the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency, Governor Whitmer announced an emergency order with plans to ban flavoring in e-cigarettes containing nicotine. Michigan was the first state to announce such a ban. Other states quickly followed suit.

Vape Pens

E-cigarette supplier and retail store owners claimed that they would “suffer irreparable harm under the state’s new ban on flavored e-cigarettes and other products” and took the ban to court. Both plaintiffs have also argued that the ban will force former smokers back to traditional tobacco.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens found the emergency order invalid under the Administrative Procedures Act. Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nesse vowed to take the issue to the Michigan Supreme Court, and Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical executive, called the decision “deeply concerning.”

“This decision is wrong,” the governor said in a prepared statement. “It misreads the law and sets a dangerous precedent of a court second-guessing the expert judgment of public health officials dealing with a crisis. The explosive increase in youth vaping is a public health emergency, and we must do everything we can to protect our kids from its harmful effects.”

Bridge Michigan reports:

Vaping rates have surged across the United States and in Michigan schools. Data showed vaping rates rose 30 percent in some Michigan districts and more than doubled in others between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 school years. In December, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams declared vaping among youth an epidemic.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to investigate some 1,300 0 lung injury cases associated with the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products throughout the United States, including 26 deaths. Most of the patients reported using e-cigarette products with liquids that contain cannabinoid products, such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

But others have pushed back, saying vaping — though not officially approved as a smoking cessation tool — has helped countless smokers quit smoking, which research suggests is much more harmful.

Smith & Johnson is currently interviewing potential Michigan claimants for inclusion the JUUL e-cigarette litigation. If you have questions about this product and what rights you may have, please contact Attorney Tim Smith at 231.946.0700 for a free consultation.

/by

Vaping Related Death Reported in Michigan

The first vaping related death has been reported in Michigan. Michigan Health and Human Services announced the death of an adult male due to vaping related lung injury on Oct. 2.

In the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. David C. Christiani, M.D. writes of vaping related deaths and notes that “there is clearly an epidemic that begs for an urgent response.” Between statewide bans of vaping and the recently formed multidistrict litigation we are beginning to see such a response.

Here at Smith & Johnson we are currently interviewing potential Michigan claimants for inclusion in the recently formed multidistrict litigation re: JUUL e-cigarette.

From the Legal Examiner:

As the New York Times reports: “Juul Labs, the dominant e-cigarette company, illegally marketed its vaping products as a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration said on Monday, casting a deepening shadow over the safety of e-cigarette devices.”

As recently as September, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter, to JUUL. In that warning letter, the FDA stated that JUUL violated federal regulations by touting it’s vaping products as being safer than traditional tobacco products.

It’s becoming clear that vaping is probably a much more dangerous alternative to traditional tobacco products. Dr. Brandon Larson, a surgical pathologist at Mayo Clinic recently reviewed lung biopsies from 17 patients, all of whom had vaped. He confirmed direct chemical injury to the lungs “similar to what one might see with exposure to toxic chemical fumes, poisonous gases and toxic agents”.

This newly formed Multidistrict Litigation involving JUUL will be procedurally similar to the MDLs formed in the Municipal Opioid Litigation and the Roundup Cancer litigation that Smith & Johnson is currently involved in. Smith & Johnson is currently interviewing potential Michigan claimants for inclusion in this Federal MDL re: JUUL e-cigarettes. If you have questions about this litigation and what rights you may have, please contact Attorney Tim Smith at 231.946.0700 for a free consultation.

/by
,

Multidistrict Litigation formed in JUUL/e-cigarette Lawsuits

October 2th marked the beginning of multidistrict litigation for JUUL/e-cigarette lawsuits.

As Smith & Johnson Attorney Tim Smith writes in the Legal Examiner:

The Federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation [MDL] entered an order yesterday creating a MDL and centralizing all federal cases against JUUL Labs, Inc into the courtroom of U.S. District Judge William Orrick of the Northern District of California. On October 2nd, the U. S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation heard oral argument from the attorneys involved in over 50 current Federal lawsuits filed against JUUL Labs, Inc. [JLI] and granted the motion to form the MDL.

The lawsuits allege JUUL has marketed it’s JUUL nicotine delivery products in a manner designed to attract minors, that JUUL’s marketing misrepresents or omits that JUUL products are more potent and addictive than cigarettes, that JUUL products are defective and unreasonably dangerous due to their attractiveness to minors and that JUUL promotes nicotine addiction.

This newly formed Multidistrict Litigation involving JUUL will be procedurally similar to the MDLs formed in the Municipal Opioid Litigation and the Roundup Cancer litigation that Smith & Johnson is currently involved in. Smith & Johnson is currently interviewing potential Michigan claimants for inclusion in this Federal MDL re: JUUL e-cigarettes. If you have questions about this litigation and what rights youmay have, please contact Attorney Tim Smith at 231.946.0700 for a free consultation.

/by
,

Has Roundup Put Hunters at Risk of Cancer As Well?

With hunting season just around the corner, many of us start thinking about deer camp. The Traverse City Record Eagle recently reported on the use of Roundup in Northern Michigan deer camps and the risk to hunters in developing non-Hodgkins lymphoma.. Read their report here.

As Smith & Johnson Attorney Tim Smith recently wrote in the Legal Examiner:

For years, many of us that hunt have engaged in Quality Deer Management or QDMA. Since 1988, the Quality Deer Management Association has worked to promote sustainable, high quality deer populations, wildlife habitats and ethical hunting experiences through research, education, advocacy and hunter recruitment. They encourage protection of the younger bucks, appropriate harvesting of the does in the population and maintaining healthy habitat and food plots on your property.

It is a brilliant approach to managing deer and your property. It’s certainly an approach that my deer camp has adhered to, and we’ve seen the benefits. For years, we’ve planted brassica, oats, clover and buckwheat. It’s a lot of work planting and maintaining those crops and it pays dividends. But up until recently, we didn’t realize that the QDMA approach was going to put our camp at risk of cancer.

When it comes to food plots, the first step recommended by QDMA is to kill all the weeds in the area where you’re going to plant the food plot to attract the deer. Roundup is the product that they have recommended for years. Why? Because it works. From the QDMA website – Commonly referred to by its original trade name Roundup, glyphosate is undoubtably the most commonly used when it comes to planting food plots.

The problem is Roundup and it’s active ingredient glyphosate cause cancer, specifically, non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In the first 3 trials against Monsanto/Bayer as it relates to Roundup causing cancer, all three juries found that Roundup caused the cancer. The evidence and the science clearly supported the connection between exposure to Roundup and cancer.

Tim Smith currently represents a client who’s exposure to Roundup came through prepping food plots at his deer camps. Smith’s is involved in litigation pending nationally against Monsanto/Bayer AG as it relates to their product Roundup.

If you, a friend or family member has been exposed to Roundup and has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, please contact Attorney Tim Smith at 231.946.0700 for a free consultation and click for more information about Smith & Johnson’s Roundup Glyphosate litigation or complete our free case evaluator.

/by
Monsanto Documents Page 3
,

Monsanto Cares Little For the Lives Their Products Impact

It has become increasingly clear that Monsanto and their representatives are only concerned by their bottom line and not the health of those affected by their products.

In July of 2013, Moms Across America wrote an open letter to Monsanto asking them to stop using Roundup on the foods they were serving their children.

Monsanto’s response? In emails obtained during the current litigation against Monsanto/Bayer, one Monsanto executive said he wanted to “beat the sh** out of” a mother’s group that was urging the company to stop selling its Roundup Weedkiller.

Monsanto Documents Page 3

 

From Global Research:

Moms Across America’s letter to then-Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant cited scientific studies linking glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, to cancer. It also decried the company’s marketing of seeds for genetically modified foods:

“We Moms know your Mom would be proud of you if you put the health of the nation first and stopped selling GMO seeds and spraying Glyphosate (Roundup®) and other harsher pesticides,” the letter said.

In the emails, Goldstein wrote that the group was making “a pretty nasty looking set of allegations” and that he had been “arguing for a week to beat the shit out of them.” Using identical scatological language, one of the consultants – Bruce Chassy, then a professor at the University of Illinois – also advocated attacking the moms’ group.

The other consultant – Wayne Parrot, a University of Georgia crop scientist – disagreed: “You can’t beat up mothers, even if they are dumb mothers but you can beat up the organic industry,” which he falsely claimed “paid for and wrote that letter.”


“These ugly emails reveal the utter contempt that Monsanto has for public health and for consumers, including mothers who only want to protect their kids’ health,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “Bayer is reeling from its monumental blunder of buying Monsanto, and these emails should remind them that they acquired the company that gave us DDT, Agent Orange and PCBs.” In the same email exchange, Goldstein noted a surge in public comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on its proposed rule to allow higher levels of glyphosate on supermarket produce. “BTW – a minor tolerance increase petition for glyphosate on specialty crops got 10,821 negativetter.” public comments in the last 48 hours – NOT form letters – individually written comments,” Goldstein wrote. “We’re on our way to being corporate road kill.”

Smith & Johnson cares about the effects that Roundup has had on you and/or a loved one and currently represents numerous cancer victims throughout Northern Michigan and the U.S. in the pending litigation against Monsanto/Bayer. Users of Roundup that have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma may be entitled to compensation through this litigation.

If you, a friend or family member has been exposed to Roundup and has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, please contact Attorney Tim Smith at 231.946.0700 for a free consultation and click for more information about Smith & Johnson’s Roundup Glyphosate litigation or complete our free case evaluator.

/by
,

60 Minutes Australia Highlights Cancer Causing Roundup and Current Legal Action

“Four years ago, the World Health Organization warned that the herbicide Glyphosate, the main ingredient in weed killer Roundup, causes cancer. Created by chemical giant Monsanto, Roundup is the most widely used weed killer on Earth, sprayed on everything from tiny flower beds to vast fields of crops. Now, in a series of landmark verdicts, juries have confirmed what the World Health organization knew all along”- Roundup causes cancer.

Watch 60 Minutes Australia as they delve into Roundup, its effects, and the legal cases against Monsanto.

Smith and Johnson currently represents individuals throughout Michigan and the U.S. In litigation to hold Monsanto responsible and to make sure individuals harmed by Roundup receive the compensation they deserve.

If you, a friend or family member has been exposed to Roundup and has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, please contact Attorney Tim Smith at 231.946.0700 for a free consultation and click for more information about Smith & Johnson’s Roundup Glyphosate litigation or complete our free case evaluator.

/by

Municipal Opioid Lawsuits Get the Green Light

Big news in the ever growing legal battle surrounding opioid manufacturers. Smith & Johnson is part of a team of attorneys representing a total of 64 cities and counties in Michigan in the fight to recover taxpayer dollars that have been used to combat the epidemic, and U.S. District Judge Dan Polsteras who oversees roughly 2,000 opioid lawsuits by states, counties and cities, said the plaintiffs can try to prove that drugmakers’ deceptive marketing of the painkillers caused a harmful, massive increase in supply that pharmacies and distributors did not do enough to stop the distribution. Via judge orders big drug companies to face opioid trial in Reuters:

“A factfinder could reasonably infer that these failures were a substantial factor in producing the alleged harm suffered by plaintiffs,” the Cleveland-based judge wrote.

The ruling was among seven decisions and orders totaling 80 pages from Polster ahead of a scheduled Oct. 21 trial by two Ohio counties against Purdue Pharma, the OxyContin maker accused of fueling the epidemic, and several other defendants.

Polster also refused to dismiss civil conspiracy claims against drugmakers, pharmacies and distributors, and said federal law did not preempt much of the plaintiffs’ case.

Other defendants included the drugmakers Endo International Plc and Johnson & Johnson; pharmacy operators CVS Health Corp., Rite Aid Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Walmart Inc.; and distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp.

Polster also refused to dismiss a variety of claims against generic drugmakers Allergan Plc, Mallinckrodt Plc and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Click for our municipal opioid lawsuit page.

/by

Timothy P. Smith Selected Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury Litigation in Northern Michigan

Smith & Johnson, Attorneys PC is proud to announce that Tim Smith was selected for the second year in a row as Best Lawyers, Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury Litigation in Northern Michigan. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review and consensus opinion from the leading lawyers here in Michigan regarding the professional abilities of their colleagues. The attorney with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographical region is recognized as “Lawyer of the Year”, which is the highest recognition awarded by Best Lawyers.

At Smith & Johnson, we are proud of the results Tim continues to obtain for his clients in both commercial litigation and the Mass Tort arena. His work over the last 3 years in Municipal Opioid Litigation, Hernia Mesh Product Liability Litigation, and Roundup Product Liability Litigation has established him as the leading Personal Injury attorney here in Northern Michigan.

/by