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Mealey's Tobacco

  • February 05, 2026

    Judge Orders ‘Puff Bar’ Vape Sellers To Pay $129K In Deceptive Marketing Suit

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Feb. 4, who previously refused to certify a consumer class action against two companies that sell “Puff Bar”-brand synthetic nicotine vapes, ordered the companies to pay more than $96,000 in statutory damages and roughly $32,000 in attorney fees for deceptively marketing their products to the plaintiff in violation of New York and New Jersey consumer protection laws.

  • February 05, 2026

    Florida Supreme Court Won’t Review Smoker’s Estate’s ‘Random Jury Box’ Appeal

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court denied a petition for review of an appellate court’s affirmance of a defense verdict against a tobacco company.  The estate of a smoker who died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had sought review on the grounds that the trial court utilized the “random jury box method” for voir dire.

  • February 04, 2026

    Dismissing ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Case, Judge Gives Employer Outlier Win

    ST. LOUIS — Giving an employer an outlier victory in a putative class action that is similar to many other recent Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to tobacco surcharges, a Missouri federal judge on Feb. 3 dismissed the complaint with prejudice and said the statute at issue “does not impose a retroactive reimbursement requirement for tobacco cessation surcharges."

  • February 04, 2026

    Florida Jury Returns Defense Verdict In Sickly Smoker’s Defect Design Lawsuit

    MIAMI — A Florida state court jury returned a defense verdict in a lawsuit against Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM) brought by a former smoker of Parliament and Marlboro-brand cigarettes who says he suffers from heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), writing that PM’s cigarettes were defectively designed but also finding that they did not legally cause the smoker’s health issues.

  • February 03, 2026

    Judge Enjoins $21K Fine Against Texas Vape Shop, Citing Constitutional Issues

    ABILENE, Texas — A Texas federal judge on Feb. 2 denied the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s motion for summary judgment and entered judgment on the merits in favor of a Texas vape shop that sued to enjoin FDA proceedings against it to enforce a more than $21,000 fine for selling an unauthorized vape product, writing that the proceedings unconstitutionally restricted the shop’s right to a jury trial (The Vaping Dragon, LLC v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, et al., No. 25-81, N.D. Texas, Abilene Div., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20806).

  • January 30, 2026

    Government Says Vacatur Of Tobacco Graphic Warnings Rule Was Improper

    MIAMI — The Food and Drug Administration and related parties filed an appellant brief in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging a federal judge’s vacatur of the FDA’s final rule requiring graphic warnings on all tobacco products pursuant to the Tobacco Control Act (TCA), writing that the ruling was improperly based on its failure to disclose raw data underlying studies regarding the efficacy of graphic warnings.

  • January 22, 2026

    2 More Judges Decline To Dismiss ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Lawsuits

    Two more federal judges have ruled that some or all claims survive dismissal in putative class actions challenging surcharges that health plan administrators require tobacco or nicotine users to pay, and a motion to compel arbitration has been granted in another similar case.

  • January 22, 2026

    Oklahoma Law Changing Tobacco Settlement Board Declared Unconstitutional

    OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Supreme Court voted 8-1 to declare that a 2025 law that would provide the means for removal of members from a board tasked with distributing funds paid by tobacco companies under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) violates the state constitution as the board’s appointment structure was itself set forth in an amendment to that constitution.

  • January 21, 2026

    Hawaii Judge Denies New Trial For Smoker’s Estate After $0 Judgment

    KONA, Hawaii — A Hawaii state judge issued a ruling denying a smoker’s estate’s motion to vacate a jury’s general damages award and for a new trial on damages, finding the jury’s $0 general damages verdict was “consistent” with the evidence presented at trial regarding the smoker’s pain and suffering from various illnesses including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

  • January 14, 2026

    2 PFAS Makers Remove Case, Claim Immunity In Wrongful Death Lawsuit

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Two makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on Jan. 13 removed to Illinois federal court a lawsuit brought by a woman who asserts claims for wrongful death and other injuries in connection with her husband’s cancer that she says was caused by his exposure to PFAS and other chemicals during his time working at an oil refinery.  In their notice for removal, the manufacturers argue that they are immune from tort liability.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Denies Cigar Maker’s Petition For Review Of Voluntary Dismissal Issue

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 denied a cigar maker’s petition for a writ of certiorari challenging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ latest ruling on a long-running dispute between it and rival tobacco companies over antitrust and breach of contract claims, in which the petitioner argued that the Ninth Circuit “deepened” a circuit split by hearing an appeal in which the respondents allegedly “manufactured finality.”

  • January 12, 2026

    Health Groups Urge FDA To Uphold Flavored Vape Bans

    NEW ORLEANS — Several health and anti-vaping groups on Jan. 9 filed an amicus curiae brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals supporting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and urging the Circuit Court to uphold its bans of flavored e-cigarettes and e-liquid products, including “zero-nicotine” products, because they say the FDA properly found that the products could lead to an increase in youth vaping and its decision-making authority is supported by high court precedent.

  • January 12, 2026

    Arizona Tobacco And Vape Shops Agree To Pay $460,000 For Underage Sales

    PHOENIX — Three companies and their owner agreed to pay $460,000 in restitution, civil penalties and attorney fees to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office as part of a consent judgment entered in Arizona state court resolving claims brought by the attorney general for illegal sales of tobacco and nicotine products to minors.

  • January 08, 2026

    Juul Reaches ‘Agreement’ With NJOY Over Disputed Docs In Vape Patent Case

    PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge on Jan. 7 ordered Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), NJOY LLC, Altria Group Inc. and affiliates to file a joint statement under seal “that describes the resolution” of a discovery dispute in a patent lawsuit after JLI said the parties reached “an agreement” relating to allegedly privileged documents JLI “inadvertently” uploaded to a public database, which NJOY described as “evidence of the fraud [JLI] committed to obtain its patents from the Patent Office.”

  • January 05, 2026

    California Issues Unflavored Tobacco List After 9th Circuit And Judge Deny Relief

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — The California Attorney General’s Office published its Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL) after both the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and a California federal judge denied last-minute bids by premium cigar companies to enjoin publication of the UTL, which they say will harm their companies, with the judge explaining that the companies are unlikely to succeed in their argument that the UTL is preempted by federal authority.

  • January 05, 2026

    Judge Won’t Stay Injunction Of Virginia Vape Registry Law Pending Appeal

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge on Jan. 2 denied the state’s motion for a stay pending its appeal of the court’s ruling last month enjoining the state from enforcing provisions of its new tobacco products registry law that would bar the sale of vape products not on the registry, but granted the state’s request for a stay of further proceedings in the litigation.

  • December 19, 2025

    Judge Enjoins Penalties Against Vape Companies Under New Virginia Registry

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge on Dec. 18 enjoined the state of Virginia from enforcing provisions of a new state e-cigarette registry law that would allow it to issue civil penalties or bar the sale of vape products not on its registry pending the outcome of an appeal in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a similar North Carolina law but granted in part the state’s motion to dismiss two vape manufacturers’ challenge to the registry.

  • December 17, 2025

    Synthetic Nicotine Companies’ Challenge To Mississippi Vape Directory Dismissed

    GULFPORT, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge dismissed a complaint brought by industry associations, a distributor and retailers claiming that a new Mississippi vape directory law that will ban the sale of e-cigarettes containing synthetic nicotine is unconstitutional, finding that the plaintiffs lack standing because the products they wish to sell are not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and “there is no legally protected interest to commit a crime.”

  • December 16, 2025

    5th Circuit Grants Rehearing, Says No Jurisdiction Over Battery Maker In Vape Case

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 15 granted a South Korean battery-maker’s petition for rehearing, withdrew its opinion finding jurisdiction over personal injury claims against the company for injuries caused by a vape explosion, and issued a new opinion finding no jurisdiction after a Seventh Circuit opinion in a similar case led it to go “hunting” for previously unreviewed jurisdictional facts.

  • December 16, 2025

    $276M Award In R.J. Reynolds’ Favor For Brand Sale Affirmed By Delaware High Court

    DOVER, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court on Dec. 15 affirmed a Chancery Court judgment awarding Reynolds American Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (collectively RJR) approximately $276 million against ITG Brands LLC in a long-running dispute over liabilities to the state of Florida under a tobacco company settlement for the number of cigarettes sold in the state under brands that RJR sold to ITG.

  • December 16, 2025

    Florida Unfair Practices Claim Not ‘Fraud’ In Zyn Marketing Suit, Judge Rules

    MIAMI — Addressing an issue that was recently a matter of first impression before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a Florida federal judge denied a motion by the companies that manufacture and sell Zyn nicotine pouches to dismiss a putative class claim accusing them of deceptively marketing Zyns in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), saying the claim doesn’t sound in fraud and is not subject to federal particularity requirements.

  • December 10, 2025

    ‘Ultra-Processed Food’ Makers Follow Big Tobacco’s Playbook, California Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — The city attorney of San Francisco, acting on behalf of California, filed a lawsuit in California state court accusing 11 of the nation’s largest food companies and 50 John Does of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and causing a public nuisance by deceptively marketing their “ultra-processed foods” (UPFs) while concealing their health risks in a manner similar to that of the tobacco companies that formerly owned three of the defendants.

  • December 08, 2025

    Smoker With Lung Cancer Says Tobacco Company Suit Belongs In State Court

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A 58-year-old smoker with lung cancer on Dec. 5 filed a motion in Massachusetts federal court to remand his suit against three tobacco companies and two retailers to state court, arguing that the defendants improperly removed the suit based on the claim that he fraudulently joined a local retailer in his suit for compensatory and punitive damages based on consumer law violations.

  • December 08, 2025

    Juul Will Pay $5.8M To Settle Alaska AG’s Claims For Illegal Marketing

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Alaska state court judge entered a consent judgment between the state of Alaska and Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and its affiliates, resolving a lawsuit brought by the attorney general’s office claiming that JLI misleadingly and unfairly marketed vape products to Alaskan youth, causing a youth vaping epidemic.

  • December 08, 2025

    Delaware Supreme Court Mulls $276M Award In Florida Brand Liability Case

    DOVER, Del. — Oral arguments were held before the Delaware Supreme Court in ITG Brands LLC’s appeal of a Chancery Court ruling ordering it to pay Reynolds American Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (collectively RJR) approximately $276 million for payments RJR has been required to pay Florida for sales of cigarette brands that ITG previously bought from RJR.