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Mealey's Tobacco

  • February 03, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Vape Association, Sellers’ Challenge To Kentucky Law

    FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Kentucky federal judge dismissed for lack of standing a lawsuit filed by a vaping industry association and two vape businesses that sought to enjoin a new Kentucky law barring sales of vapor products not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, rejecting the plaintiffs’ argument that they have a legally protected interest in the right to sell “illegal products.”

  • February 03, 2025

    D.C. Circuit Affirms Vacatur Of FDA’s Premium Cigar Rules

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a judge’s vacatur of Food and Drug Administration’s rules for premium cigar regulation as “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and agreed that vacatur was the appropriate remedy but reversed as to the court’s definition of “premium cigars” and remanded for the parties to address that issue.

  • January 30, 2025

    Iowa Urges Rejection Of Synthetic Nicotine Sellers’ Vape Regulation Challenge

    DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Revenue and its director on Jan. 29 filed a brief in Iowa federal court opposing a motion by a vaping advocacy association and five businesses to preliminarily enjoin the state’s new law regulating sales of e-cigarettes from going into effect next week, arguing that the law is proper under the state’s police powers and denying that synthetic nicotine vapes will be treated unequally under the law.

  • January 29, 2025

    Tobacco Company, Retailer Settle Wrongful Death Suit Brought By Widower

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A tobacco company, retailer and the widower of a dead smoker settled a wrongful death suit brought in Massachusetts state court by the widower the day after openings in the trial were held regarding the widower’s claims that they are liable for his wife’s death from lung cancer at age 59 after she got hooked on smoking when she was given free samples of cigarettes as a 14-year-old.

  • January 28, 2025

    Mass. Justice Trebles Damages, Enters $105M Judgment For Smoker’s Cancer Death

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Massachusetts state court justice entered judgment worth roughly $105 million in favor of the widower of a smoker who got hooked on cigarettes after being handed a free sample at age 12 and died from lung cancer at age 59, after adding attorney fees and interest to the jury’s $10.6 million verdict, then adding additional trebled damages due to the tobacco company’s “unfair and deceptive trade practices.”

  • January 21, 2025

    Justices Debate Tobacco Control Act’s Venue Provision In ‘Forum Shopping’ Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 21 heard oral arguments in a petition brought by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and their respective secretaries (collectively, FDA) who argue that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has improperly allowed “forum shopping” by permitting out-of-circuit e-cigarette manufacturers to challenge federal regulations in the circuit of local retailers with more appealing precedents.

  • January 21, 2025

    Massachusetts High Court Upholds Fine Against Store For Flavored Cigar Sale

    BOSTON — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a $1,000 fine levied against a convenience store in Braintree, Mass., for violating the state’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products by having an open box of flavored “Black & Mild” cigars on the shelf behind the cash register.

  • January 17, 2025

    $4.95M Class Settlement Gets Preliminary OK In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Suit

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Missouri federal judge on Jan. 16 granted preliminary approval to a $4.95 million class settlement proposed in a suit that was filed months before a recent wave of similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plans’ tobacco surcharges.

  • January 14, 2025

    Tobacco Graphic Warnings Rule Postponed Pending Companies’ APA Challenge

    TYLER, Texas — A Texas federal judge on Jan. 13 ordered the effective date of the Food and Drug Administration’s new graphic warnings requirement on tobacco products under the Tobacco Control Act (TCA) postponed pending the outcome of an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenge to the rule brought by tobacco companies and retailers, which remains pending after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ rejection of their First Amendment arguments.

  • January 13, 2025

    FDA: High Court Must Restrict ‘Forum Shopping,’ Bar Retailers From Vape Ban Cases

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Jan. 10 reply brief, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and their respective secretaries (collectively FDA) urge the U.S. Supreme Court to reject vape companies’ and retailers’ interpretation of the Tobacco Control Act (TCA), which was upheld by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that the TCA restricts “forum shopping” by manufacturers and bars retailers from participating in vape ban challenges.

  • January 10, 2025

    High Court Distributes Tribe’s Tobacco Rule Challenge After State Waives Response

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court distributed a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by two subsidiaries of Winnebago Tribe-owned tobacco company seeking review of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling upholding Nebraska’s right to enforce Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) regulations over its tobacco sales to tribal nonmembers after the state waived its right to respond.

  • January 08, 2025

    $4.95M ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Deal Proposed In Case That Preceded Recent Wave

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A suit filed months before a recent wave of similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plans’ tobacco surcharges would be resolved for $4.95 million under a class settlement to which the plaintiff has asked a Missouri federal court to grant preliminary approval.

  • January 08, 2025

    Amici Tell High Court Venue Was Proper In Menthol Vape Maker’s FDA Challenge

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several legal advocacy groups, vape industry associations and vape companies filed amicus curiae briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to find that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals properly found jurisdiction over a petition brought by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJRV) and retailers challenging a Food and Drug Administration ban of certain RJRV products, with one amicus writing that FDA’s petition should be dismissed as improvidently granted.

  • January 07, 2025

    Utah’s New Flavored Vape Ban Paused By Federal Judge After Retailers Sue

    SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah federal judge granted a joint stipulated motion by the state of Utah, the Utah Vapor Business Association (UVBA) and a local vape retailer to enjoin the state’s new law banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and other vape products from taking effect, which the plaintiffs argue is unconstitutional and will destroy vape businesses while driving adult vapers to combustible cigarettes or the black market.

  • January 06, 2025

    Panel Strikes Manufacturer Licensing Provisions From Pennsylvania Tobacco Tax Act

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — Addressing a “case of first impression,” a split Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel on Jan. 3 ruled in favor of an e-liquid maker and struck down the tobacco manufacturer licensing provisions contained in the state’s Tobacco Products Tax Act (TPTA) after finding the section not severable from the specific challenged provisions that it found “invalid . . . as an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.”

  • January 03, 2025

    Standing Is Among Issues Raised In Motion To Dismiss ERISA Suit Over Surcharges

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Arguing in part that the plaintiffs lack standing, a company sued over surcharges imposed on participants in its self-funded health plan for tobacco use and for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has moved in North Carolina federal court for dismissal.

  • December 24, 2024

    Flavored Disposable Vape Sellers Fail To Get Reconsideration In NYC Suit

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge denied two motions for reconsideration filed by individuals and entities accused by the city of New York of illegally selling flavored disposable vapes (FDVs) in violation of federal, state and city laws, writing that the defendants did not raise new arguments warranting reconsideration of the court’s ruling allowing public nuisance claims against them to proceed.

  • December 23, 2024

    Tribe Seeks High Court Review Of Nebraska Tobacco Sales Regulations

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two subsidiaries of a Winnebago Tribe-owned company urge the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari to review the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling upholding Nebraska’s right to enforce Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) regulations over its tobacco sales to tribal nonmembers, arguing that the ruling conflicts with high court precedent and “strikes at the heart of tribal sovereignty.”

  • December 20, 2024

    Federal Circuit Affirms Infringement, Damages Findings In E-Cig Patent Fight

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partially split panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 19 said a federal judge in North Carolina was right to deny judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) to electronic cigarette entity R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJR), affirming a jury’s award of more than $95 million against the company for infringing on another company’s pod-based tobacco vapor technology.

  • December 18, 2024

    Synthetic Nicotine Sellers Seek To Enjoin New Iowa Vape Regulation

    DES MOINES, Iowa — A vaping advocacy association and five businesses that sell synthetic nicotine-containing vape products on Dec. 17 filed a complaint and a motion for a preliminary injunction in Iowa federal court seeking to bar a new state law that would allow enforcement actions for sales of vape products not yet authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and contains no exception for synthetic nicotine products under FDA review.

  • December 18, 2024

    North Carolina Supreme Court Reverses State’s Tax Win On Tobacco Export Credits

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment against Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM) and in favor of the state’s Department of Revenue on a dispute over how much credit generated on tobacco exports PM is entitled to carry forward in future tax years.

  • December 18, 2024

    $91M Awarded To Smoker And Wife For His Laryngeal Cancer

    KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — A Hawaii state court jury awarded $91 million to a smoker and his wife against a tobacco company they accused of causing him to become addicted to cigarettes and eventually develop laryngeal cancer, with the verdict comprising $6 million in compensatory damages and $85 million in punitive damages.  VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.

  • December 17, 2024

    Menthol Vape Maker, Retailers Say Venue Of FDA Action Proper Under Tobacco Laws

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJRV) and affiliated companies urge the U.S. Supreme Court in their Dec. 16 merits brief to reject the Food and Drug Administration’s argument that they engaged in forum shopping by challenging FDA’s ban of RJRV vape products in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, writing that venue was proper under the Tobacco Control Act (TCA).

  • December 17, 2024

    Dead Smoker’s Family, Tobacco Companies Settle Wrongful Death Suit

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — Two notices of settlement were filed in California federal court by tobacco companies and the family members of a dead smoker who brought claims accusing the companies of causing his death from laryngeal cancer announcing that the parties have reached  settlements in principle and will file finalized settlements within two months.

  • December 16, 2024

    High Court Denies Tobacco Company’s Petition For Review Of Oregon Income Tax

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 16 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a New Mexico tobacco company seeking review of an en banc Oregon Supreme Court decision upholding a state Tax Court’s levying of more than $1 million in net income tax from the company based on sales to in-state wholesalers, which the tobacco company argued violated its immunity from such taxation under federal law.