Weekly Mass Torts Bulletin 2022-Apr-18

Juul Labs has agreed to pay $22.5 million to Washington state over its e-cigarette as the company is alleged to illicit marketing and sales of the vaping products to the minors.

In September 2020, Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Juul, alleging that it targeted underage consumers by deceiving them about the addictive nature of the vapes. Juul Labs denied any wrongdoings in the case as per the consent decree filed in King County Superior Court.

The company launched the product in 2015 by flooding social media with catchy ads, which boosted its sale among teenagers resulting in nicotine addiction. As per the AG's office, the percentage of minors using vaping products rose to 21% in 2018 from 13% in 2016.

As per the settlement announced in Washington state, Juul is ordered to stop advertising and marketing vaping products on social media including, Facebook and Instagram. The company is even asked to monitor the sale of its vaping products to minors by implementing the age verification process before delivering the products. Juul also needs to implement relevant practices to prevent minors from buying and using the products.

As per the data provided by Juul on its company's website, the company stopped the sale and advertising of all the flavored products except menthol and tobacco before the AG sued the company in 2020.

The settlement even requires the company to conduct a secret shopper program where Juul needs to make at least 25 compliance checks per month by sending secret shoppers. The secret shoppers should ensure that the company is complying with the requirement to verify a purchaser’s age and ensure the limit of product sales to each consumer. The report of the program needs to be submitted by the company to AG's office every three months.

Earlier, in November, Juul reached a settlement of $14.5 million with the Arizona state just after the $40 million agreement with North Carolina.

Michigan is all set to receive $776 million from a $26 billion nationwide opioid settlement involving the three largest drug distributors of America, along with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson (J&J), for the companies' role in fueling the opioid epidemic.

The settlement amount would be distributed equally among the local and the state governments of Michigan. House Judiciary Committee has signed three bills regarding the distribution of the money. The funds would be used to address and deal with the impact of the opioid crisis in the state.

The payouts would be executed over the period of 18 years where pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, as well as opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, would release the funds.

Opioid Healing and Recovery Fund would be created by House Bills to accommodate the money, and an advisory commission would be set up to determine how to spend the money and prevent further civil lawsuits related to opioids.

The bills are yet to be passed through the full House, Senate and be signed by the governor. The advisory committee would consist of 14 members appointed by various legislative leaders. The members need to be experienced in substance abuse prevention, health care, mental health, law enforcement, local government, first responder work or similar fields.

Earlier, the funds received in tobacco settlements were not used for the correct purpose, and creating the opioid fund would ensure that the same mistake would not happen this time. The opioid fund would ensure that the money is not used for unnecessary purposes other than the opioid crisis. The settlement would even help the state to get better resources that were not previously available to address the opioid crisis and support abatement efforts.

The agreement is one of the largest ones in U.S. history after the tobacco settlement of 1998. As per preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Michigan reported 3,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021.

3M has been awarded a win in the Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2) litigation's 14th bellwether test trial by a Pensacola jury.

Of the 14 bellwether trials, 3M has won six of them, whereas the plaintiffs have been favored in 8 of the trials, with verdicts totalling about $200 million. The U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber in Pensacola handed over the verdict in the current trial.

3M is pleased with the verdict as another jury has sided with them in the latest trial, whereas the plaintiff’s attorneys said that they are looking forward to trying further cases as 3M's defenses were unconvincing and without merit.

As per the court documents, the plaintiff in the current case served in the U.S. Army from 2004, which included tours in Iraq and Kuwait. The allegations brought by the plaintiff were similar to the other plaintiffs in the MDL, where the company is accused of withholding the design defect of the earplugs, which resulted in hearing loss for the service members.

As per the company, Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2) is designed in such a way that it provides selective hearing from one end whereas eliminates all the sounds when used reversibly. But the plaintiffs allege that the products failed to serve their purpose resulting in hearing loss and tinnitus for the users.

According to data from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, there are now almost 300,000 plaintiffs with pending cases against 3M, making it the largest MDL in history. The 15th bellwether trial is set to begin next week on April 18th, and the 16th bellwether trial will begin on May 9th.

Indianapolis and several other Indiana cities that earlier opted out of the state's lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors are now ready to join the $507 million statewide opioid settlement.

The statewide settlement has been revised as per the new state law giving direct funding and flexibility to the local governments. The suburbs of Noblesville and Fishers, the capital city of the state and other cities, including Muncie and Franklin, have decided to join the settlement.

The $507 million settlement that Indiana will receive is a part of the $26 billion national opioid settlement, which would be paid by drug maker Johnson and Johnson along with opioid distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen.

The distribution plan for Indiana states that the local and state governments would get a 15% share each of the funding. The state’s Family and Social Services Administration would get the remaining 70% of the settlement amount.

Many local governments were willing to pursue their own lawsuits to get more cash as a settlement but were barred by the court. State Attorney General Todd Rokita urged the cities and towns to opt back into the settlement as they might risk losing settlement funds. Even the settlement amount for Indiana dropped from $507 million to $269 million due to local governments opting out.

A new law even allows the cities to receive the latest settlement funding and pursue litigation against other opioid companies simultaneously.

The state would receive the money over the years, with possibly the payments beginning from May. The settlement amount would vary depending on the number of cities, counties and towns participating in the statewide settlement agreement. There are even two pending lawsuits from Indiana against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family.