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Vuse File For Lawsuit Dismissal

Big T e-cig company fight back against a case brought against them in California

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Jerod Harris believes Vuse’s owners (the R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company) is violating California law by failing to include warnings of a potential carcinogen risk in its marketing and labels. In particular, that there are no warnings about exposure to formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.

Harris believes that if he had been warned about the negligible risk he would not have purchased any Vuse products and (presumably) continued with the *safer practice of smoking. *The previous sentence is laden with sarcasm.

Vuse is marketed as being able to deliver “the perfect puff, first time, every time” because it contains a microchip processor, controlling the battery and vapour delivery. Measured on store sales, Vuse have a 37.9% share of the American cigalike ecig market according to the Nielsen organisation.

At the time, Gilbert Ross from the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) said that there is no evidence the presence of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde “actually poses a reasonable health threat to vapers.” Also, studies on the vapour given out by a Vuse product “reported the chemicals were either below the limit of detection or limited by the quantification of the laboratory methods used.”

Reynolds has now filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit. They say that the plaintiff has not substantiated that Vuse products emit “significant amounts of harmful carcinogens” to users. They go on to state that the Food and Drug Administration has yet to rule on what labeling should be included with ecigs and that Harris is in no position to claim for punitive damages in relation to potential future injury. Even Harris’ lawyers admit “to date, e-cigarettes are not required to receive pre-market approval of any kind.”

While sympathy for Reynolds will be thin on the ground within the vaping community, many will be watching with interest as it could open the door for further action against brands not owned by tobacco companies. It is also of relevance given the various studies looking at formaldehyde and acetaldehyde levels in vapour, although they are strongly linked to dry hit scenarios only.

Dave Cross avatar

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV
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Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.

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