Two vape companies are being sued by a University of Oregon student for negligent marketing of its e-cigarettes that caused him a seizure, The Oregonian said in a report.
According to a report in the Daily Emerald, Kewmarse Imani filed a class-action lawsuit against vape companies, Juul and Altria in Lane County Circuit Court for recklessly advertising its e-cigarettes, without warning the people about the health effects of the product or how much nicotine its pods contain.
Imani who was initially not addicted to nicotine got used to it after using Juul in 2018 and also suffered a seizure as of result, the lawsuit states.
The suit also alleged Altria Group Inc., the parent company of the Marlboro manufacturer Philip Morris USA of, “providing marketing for JUUL despite knowing that JUUL electronic cigarettes were used largely by a youthful market.”
It alleged both the companies of using marketing techniques including paying social media influencers that targeted young adults who didn’t use e-cigarettes. It further goes on to allege Juul of pushing its e-cigarettes despite knowing, “from the volumes of published research on nicotine, in addition to being addictive, poses various other serious health risks.”
“Those tobacco companies ads were aimed at young people, but it also made old people think it was cool, too,” said Leslie O’Leary, an Oregon attorney for the plaintiff.
“The vaping ads on social media are hitting such a young demographic. To think that super young people could be developing cancer and lung disease at such an early age is shocking to me,” she added.
