Juul’s CEO Kevin Burns has resigned amid safety concerns over the e-cigarettes.
He will be replaced by former Altria executive K.C. Crosthwaite, Juul announced Wednesday.
Altria invested $12.8billion for a 35 per cent stake in Juul late last year and Crosthwaite will continue ‘a broad review of the company’s practices and policies to ensure alignment with its aim of responsible leadership within the industry’, Juul said in a statement.
Also on Wednesday, Altria and Philip Morris announced that they are calling off merger talks.
The growing backlash against Juul and companies that produce vaping products has reached a global scale with China being the latest country to announce plans to join governments that are imposing controls on tobacco liquid and additives for e-cigarettes amid rising concerns about deaths and illnesses blamed on vaping.
Earlier this month, India banned sales of e-cigarettes and regulators in the US have imposed controls. New York and Michigan were the first states to ban flavored e-cigarettes.
Massachusetts took an even bigger step with the announcement of a four-month temporary ban on the sale of all e-cigarettes in the state.
Last month Burns admitted that the nearly 200 lung illnesses linked to vaping reported in the US were ‘worrisome’ in a CBS This Morning interview but said he does not yet believe Juul’s products are to blame.
Juul’s CEO Kevin Burns (left) has resigned amid safety concerns over the e-cigarettes. He will be replaced by former Altria executive K.C. Crosthwaite (right), Juul announced Wednesday
Juul currently faces about 30 lawsuits alleging it illegally marketed products to children and failed to issue warnings to consumers about their dangers
He defended his product and said Juul is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is investigating the spate of severe lung illnesses.
‘If there was any indication that there was an adverse health condition related to our product, I think we would take swift action,’ Burns said – but claimed the ‘facts’ don’t suggest that, despite claims made by many vaping patients that they used Juul.
The series of illnesses reported in 30 states is ‘worrisome for the category [of e-cigarettes] and worrisome for us, if we’re contributing it,’ Burns told CBS’s Tony Dokoupil.
Juul had captured 70 per cent of the US e-cigarette market by October 2018, according to Nielson.
Over the last couple of years the company has been slammed for marketing its products to youth and teenagers, triggering raids of its headquarters, warning letters, and forcing Juul’s hand to remove sweet-flavored e-liquids from stores.
Despite Burns’ previous comments defending his product, in a statement on Wednesday he said: ‘Working at JUUL Labs has been an honor and I still believe the company’s mission of eliminating combustible cigarettes is vitally important.
‘I am very proud of my team’s efforts to lead the industry toward much needed category-wide action to tackle underage usage of these products, which are intended for adult smokers only.
‘Since joining JUUL Labs, I have worked non-stop, helping turn a small firm into a worldwide business, so a few weeks ago I decided that now was the right time for me to step down. I am grateful to be able to confidently hand the reins to someone with K.C.’s skill set, which is well-suited to the next phase of the company’s journey,’ he added.
In Wednesday’s statement, the company announced that it will also be shutting down broadcast, print and digital advertising.
It will also end its lobbying efforts on behalf of the e-cigarette in Washington as safety concerns intensify.
Last month Burns (pictured) admitted that the nearly 200 lung illnesses linked to vaping reported in the US were ‘worrisome’ in a CBS This Morning interview but said he does not yet believe Juul’s products are to blame
He defended his product (file image) at the time and said Juul is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is investigating the spate of severe lung illnesses
The FDA is demanding that the Juul Labs hand over not only information about its marketing practices, but documents disclosing whatever health testing it did – or did not – perform before selling its e-cigarettes.
Earlier this month, the FDA issued a warning letter to Juul Labs Inc for marketing its e-cigarettes as safer than traditional cigarettes.
Juul, which has said it is reviewing the FDA letter, also faces about 30 lawsuits alleging it illegally marketed products to children and failed to issue warnings to consumers about their dangers.
Juul has denied that it marketed its products to children.
Just two weeks ago, Illinois teenager Adam Hergenreder, 18, who fell ill with a lung disease after vaping for more than a year sued JUUL, accusing the company of deliberately marketing to young people and sending the message that vaping is cool.
Attorneys filed a lawsuit in Lake County Circuit Court on behalf of Hergenreder, who was hospitalized at the end of August for about a week after complaining of nausea and labored breathing.
The 85-page suit argued Juul Labs conveyed in advertisements and through social media campaigns that kids could boost their social status by vaping. It also said Juul never fully disclosed that their products contain dangerous chemicals.
‘To put it mildly, Adam didn’t stand a chance to avoid getting hooked on these toxic timebombs,’ said Hergenreder’s lawyer, Antonio Romanucci.
The CDC is investigating the little-understood outbreak but has not yet identified a common electronic cigarette or ingredient.
The cases, which resemble an inhalation injury, have helped trigger a swift backlash against e-cigarettes, including a proposed federal ban on flavors by the Trump administration, state-level restrictions, and an end to sales in Walmart stores nationwide.
Massachusetts’s temporary ban is the first of its kind in the nation.
Following in the footsteps of Michigan and New York, Illinois is now considering banning flavored e-cigarettes.
Meanwhile, tobacco giants Philip Morris and Altria announced that they are calling off merger talks amid safety concerns over e-cigarettes intensifying.
The makers of Marlboro cigarettes said last month that they were in discussions to become a single company, more than a decade after splitting into two as lawsuits mounted.
Altria has exclusively sold Marlboro cigarettes and other tobacco brands in the US, while Philip Morris has handled international sales.
Philip Morris International Inc CEO André Calantzopoulos said Wednesday that the companies will instead focus on launching IQOS in the US.
IQOS is a heat-not-burn cigarette alternative made by Philip Morris.
So far, in a month, nine people have been struck down by mysterious illnesses caused by vaping
Over the last month, the number of vaping-related illnesses in the US have continuously climbed.
In an effort to curb those illnesses, some states, including New York and Michigan banned flavored e-cigarettes.
But Massachusetts went even further on Tuesday with the state’s governor, Charlie Baker, announcing a four-month temporary ban on the sale of all e-cigarettes in the state.
As of Tuesday, 61 cases of potential cases of lung disease related to the use of electronic cigarettes and vaping in Massachusetts had been reported to the state.
Three confirmed cases and two probable Massachusetts cases of vaping-associated pulmonary disease have been reported to the CDC.
Theirs is the most aggressive executive action any state has taken yet.
Baker’s announcement came after Dr Anne Schuchat, of the CDC, told a congressional subcommittee that she believes ‘hundreds more’ lung illnesses have been reported to health authorities since last Thursday, when the CDC put the tally at 530 confirmed and probable cases.
‘We are seeing more and more cases each day and I expect the next weekly numbers will be much higher,’ Schuchat said.
Nine deaths have been reported so far.
Two week ago, President Donald Trump said his administration will be taking steps to ban flavored ‘vaping’ products
The House Oversight Economic and Consumer Policy subcommittee chairman, Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, has called a ‘youth vaping epidemic’.
At Tuesday’s hearing Representative Mark DeSaulnier, a Democrat from California, called Juul ‘shameless’ in terms of the amount of information it has given to lawmakers.
On Wednesday, health officials from Michigan, North Carolina, Kansas and Massachusetts will appear before the Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee along with Schuchat and the FDA’s Norman Sharpless.
Two week ago, President Donald Trump said his administration will be taking steps to ban flavored ‘vaping’ products.
‘Not only is it a problem overall, but really specifically with respect to children,’ Trump said, adding that ‘we may very well have to do something very, very strong about it’.
‘It’s very dangerous. Children have died. … and we’re going to have some very strong rules and regulations,’ he added later.
The Vapor Technology Association said in a statement the flavor ban would force smokers ‘to choose between smoking again … or finding what they want and need on the black market.’
The group represents vaping manufacturers, retailers and distributors.