Christian Foss, a 19-year-old filed a lawsuit against Juul Labs and Philip Morris – which owns Altria, which in turn owns 35 percent of Juul – this week, claiming they used deceptive marketing to sell their e-cigarettes to vulnerable teenagers like him.
Foss, of Cook County Illinois, alleges that he started using e-cigarettes when he was just 16 – under the legal age to use nicotine products in the US – and has since become addicted and suffered worsened asthma.
As the FDA investigates Juul and its marketing practices, the CDC is looking into over 120 lung damage cases thought linked to e-cigarettes.
Foss’s suit – a class action filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) – follows similar claims filed by several US states and other individuals and class actions accusing the company of endangering youth.
RICO is the same law under which infamous organized crime rings and families and the Mafia have been prosecuted, and affords more damages to the plaintiffs if they win.
The 19-year-old dropped the charges he filed today, Juul is trying to consolidate a series of at least 11 similar suits to its home district.
A 19-year-old named Christian Foss was the latest to file a class action lawsuit against Juul and its stakeholder Philip Morris, alleging their marketing practices got him unwittingly addicted to e-cigarettes starting at age 16 – and amounts to a corrupt practice
‘Plaintiff is only 19 years old yet he is addicted to JUUL, an e-cigarette. He also suffers from exasperated asthma, a known complication of nicotine ingestion,’ the initial Illinois complaint filed in Illinois rads.
Citing the FDA and US Surgeon General’s declarations that youth vaping is an epidemic, the filing levels: ‘Defendants [Juul and Philip Morris] are to blame.
‘Mimicking Big Tobacco’s past marketing practices, Defendants prey on youth for financial gain.’
The number of youth and teenagers that report vaping on a regular basis surged by 900 percent between 2011 and 2015, according to the Surgeon General’s office.
That means that one in five high school students use e-cigarettes.
Last year, Juul had to take down virtually all of its social media and was demanded to handle documents disclosing its marketing practice over to the FDA.
Now, the same agency is investigating Juul for a suspected link to a slew of seizures.
Foss’s suit cites this Philip Morris ad as part of the company’s allegedly deceptive marketing
Juul ads like this one, included in the Illinois court filing, showed very young-looking users
Meanwhile, at least 127 people in the US – most of whom are children or young adults – have been hospitalized for mysterious pneumonia-like lung problems that are not pneumonia.
The patients all have in common that they used e-cigarettes over the course of the year prior to their illnesses.
For his part, Foss alleged that using a Juul since he was 16 has aggravated his asthma.
The suit claimed that he didn’t know – and still doesn’t – how much nicotine he was consuming through the device or how addictive it was.
Foss ‘was attracted to and most often used the mango, cucumber, and mint flavors,’ the complaint says.
‘Plaintiff reasonably fears that the Defendants listed below are working in concert to market and advertise JUUL to youth and teenagers and that Defendants’ association and marketing efforts increase the likelihood that minor children, like Plaintiff, will begin using ecigarettes and become addicted.’
Although Foss’s Illinois case was officially terminated on Wednesday August 21, Juul and Philip Morris have filed a motion asking to consolidate 11 similar lawsuits in Northern California, the same district where Juul is headquartered.
At least some of those cases are also class action suits – though it is not clear if any others level RICO claims which, if proven, could strip Juul and Philip Morris if massive sums of their revenue.
In a statement, Juul denied ever having marketed to youth or trying to entice people who didn’t already use nicotine products.
It cited the voluntary shutdown of its social media as its effort to ‘remove inappropriate social media content generated by others.’
PMI had not responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment at time of publication.
‘This suit simply copies and pastes allegations previously raised in Florida which we are actively contesting’ Juul said in a statement emailed to DailyMail.com
‘Like the prior case that this one so closely emulates, it is without merit and we will defend our mission throughout this process.’