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July 29, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — E-cigarette consumers filed an opening brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals urging it to reverse the dismissal of their putative class lawsuit against e-cigarette companies for “greenwashing” their products by calling them “carbon-neutral” in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, writing that the lower court misapplied precedent to its evaluation of their false advertising claims.
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July 29, 2026
To date, defendants have fully prevailed in roughly one of every four rulings resolving dismissal motions in a wave of lawsuits challenging health plan tobacco surcharges, but that ratio includes a recent two-day stretch in which federal judges in New Jersey and Minnesota dismissed putative class cases against Campbell Soup Co. and Target Corp. and a federal judge in Texas partly dismissed a putative class case against United Surgical Partners International Inc.
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July 29, 2026
HONOLULU — A tobacco company filed its opening brief in Hawaii state appellate court seeking the reversal and remand of a judgment against it worth more than $89 million in favor of a smoker who developed laryngeal cancer and his wife, writing that the jury’s $85 million punitive damages award was unconstitutionally excessive in comparison to the compensatory damages awarded and that the trial court’s other rulings in the case were flawed.
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July 28, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A nonprofit legal foundation on July 28 filed a motion in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for leave to file an amicus curiae brief in which it urges the court to reverse a federal judge’s order certifying several classes of purchasers bringing antitrust claims against Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), Altria Group Inc. and former JLI board members for allegedly seeking to monopolize the e-cigarette market, writing that the ruling would allow California law to be used as “a roving nationwide antitrust enforcer.”
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July 17, 2026
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The state of Minnesota filed a complaint in state court accusing a Minnesota company of illegally selling e-cigarettes in candy and fruit flavors that appeal to youth and of making confusing statements that its “Loon” brand vapes were “accepted” by the Food and Drug Administration, allegedly falsely implying that they are authorized for sale in the United States in violation of state consumer protection laws.
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July 15, 2026
BALTIMORE — Several public health, antitobacco and antivaping groups on July 14 filed a complaint in Maryland federal court against the Food and Drug Administration and other government defendants seeking to enjoin the FDA’s recent allegedly “unlawful” guidance purporting to change its enforcement priorities regarding e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, which the plaintiffs say violates the Tobacco Control Act (TCA) and will jeopardize the health of young people.
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July 14, 2026
GREENSBORO, N.C. — R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. (RJR) on July 13 moved in North Carolina federal court to dismiss a putative class action alleging that it is violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by sending unwanted marketing text messages to consumers whose phone numbers are listed on the national Do Not Call (DNC) registry, writing that DNC does not apply to texts or cell phones.
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July 13, 2026
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on July 10 entered an order approving a plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal and dismissing with prejudice her putative class action against the maker of Fume-brand vapes in which she had accused it of misleadingly marketing its vape products.
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July 10, 2026
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas federal judge entered an order dismissing an e-cigarette company’s complaint challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s refusal to accept its premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) for certain electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products after the company filed a stipulation of dismissal, more than two years after its case was held in abeyance pending further FDA review.
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July 10, 2026
DENVER — A Colorado state court judge granted a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by a nonprofit alliance of vaping businesses seeking to enjoin enforcement of the city of Denver’s ban on the sales of flavored tobacco, opining that the ban is not vague and does not violate the U.S. or state constitutions.
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July 07, 2026
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed a trial court’s denial of an e-cigarette industry association and retailer’s attempt to enjoin a state law that prohibits sales of e-cigarettes not on an official state directory for vape products, finding that the state law is not preempted by federal regulation of e-cigarettes and was properly enacted based on youth health protection concerns.
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July 07, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied a petition for review filed by the manufacturer of menthol-flavored “Four Seasons” brand e-liquids and a retailer that both argued that the Food and Drug Administration improperly banned sales of the manufacturer’s product, finding that the balancing test the FDA applied during premarket review was proper.
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July 01, 2026
ST. LOUIS — In a June 30 judgment issued without substantive explanation, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition to allow an interlocutory challenge to certification of three opt-out classes and one mandatory class in a case that is part of a wave of Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plan tobacco surcharges.
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July 01, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A divided Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 30 granted an e-liquid maker’s petition for review and vacated an approximately $19,000 fine issued against it by the Department of Health and Human Services for selling unauthorized vapes, finding that the administrative proceeding violated the petitioner’s Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial under SEC v. Jarkesy.
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June 30, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — Tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries, including companies that manufacture and sell NJOY vapes, on June 29 filed notice in Virginia federal court that they are appealing a judge’s denial of their motion to preliminarily enjoin an International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation into NJOY vapes stemming from a patent complaint brought by Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), which the plaintiffs argued were unconstitutional.
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June 29, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 denied two separate petitions for writs of certiorari seeking review of cases in which conflicting jurisdictional decisions were reached: a petition brought by a man who argued that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly found no jurisdiction over Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. for injuries he suffered from a vape explosion, and a petition brought by Samsung arguing that Minnesota state courts incorrectly found personal jurisdiction over a separate personal injury claim against it for burns from a vape explosion.
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June 29, 2026
BOSTON — A smoker’s widower filed an appellee brief urging the Massachusetts Appeals Court to affirm most of a judgment in his favor worth more than $86.6 million on wrongful death claims against a tobacco company for causing his wife’s addiction to cigarettes and death from lung cancer, defending the judgment based on both a jury verdict and a judge’s award of additional damages for unfair and deceptive acts, but agreeing that $4.1 million in compensatory damages should be vacated as duplicative.
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June 29, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California-based e-liquid manufacturer filed a petitioner’s brief to the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the Food and Drug Administration’s ban of its products, which it claims will hurt its business and cause it irreparable harm, was arbitrary and capricious because it was based on an incorrect and unfairly adopted definition of what should be considered appropriate for the protection of public health.
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June 26, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge granted Altria Group Inc.’s unopposed motion for voluntary dismissal of its remaining claims in a suit against the United States for a refund of federal taxes paid pursuant to a settlement agreement between the parties, following the court’s September 2025 ruling in which it upheld $38 million in taxes levied against Altria under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which Altria said it “anticipates appealing.”
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June 26, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — The Food and Drug Administration filed an appellee brief urging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a marketing denial order (MDO) it issued to a manufacturer banning sales of the manufacturer’s bottled flavored e-liquids, writing that it properly concluded that the manufacturer’s products are not appropriate for the protection of public health (APPH).
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June 26, 2026
TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida state court jury returned a verdict in favor of the estate of a smoker in an Engle case against a tobacco company for causing the smoker’s laryngeal cancer, her later diagnosis of lung cancer and death and awarded her estate $220,000 in compensatory damages but assigned the tobacco company only 15% responsibility for legally causing the smoker’s death at age 63.
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June 16, 2026
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida state agency on June 15 filed a response brief to the Florida Supreme Court asserting that it should not exercise jurisdiction over a North Carolina-based hookah distributor’s petition for review of a split appellate panel’s decision affirming the state’s refusal to refund $1.4 million in excise taxes and surcharges on the company’s hookah sales, arguing that the decision created no conflict and that the company only “seeks to relitigate the case.”
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June 15, 2026
CHICAGO — North American Company for Life and Health Insurance filed a complaint in Illinois federal court against its insured, seeking to rescind a $1 million life insurance policy for the insured’s purported misrepresentations in the application regarding the use of tobacco or nicotine products, asserting that the insurer would not have issued the policy had the insured provided accurate information.
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June 12, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge on June 11 denied a motion for a preliminary injunction that tobacco company Altria Group Inc., its vape subsidiary NJOY LLC and their affiliates filed seeking to stop an International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation into certain vape products based on a patent-related complaint by Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), writing that the plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on their argument that such proceedings are unconstitutional and violate their rights to a jury trial under SEC v. Jarkesy.
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June 11, 2026
TAMPA, Fla. — The Food and Drug Administration and other government parties filed a notice of appeal in Florida federal court stating that they will challenge a judge’s order enjoining an FDA decision barring sales of a synthetic nicotine pouch product, which the judge said would likely be found “arbitrary or capricious” because it was based on regulatory requirements that place “substantial” burdens on small businesses.