A 19-year-old from Yavapai County is suing Juul Labs after he says he got hooked on the company’s vaping products and suffered “diminished enjoyment of life” as a result.
Omar Mejia claims he first started using Juul in 2016 and became addicted to nicotine.
Mejia alleges his battle with nicotine addiction has caused “mental anguish and psychological trauma” along with physical pain and a need for lifelong medical treatment.
The lawsuit claims Juul deceived the public in its advertising campaigns, neglecting the company’s duty to ensure consumers would not suffer “unreasonable, dangerous side effects.”
According to the lawsuit, Juul’s marketing campaign directly targeted teenagers on social media platforms. It says the ads showed colorful devices with a variety of flavors with no mention of the nicotine content.
The lawsuit also claims JUUL did not adequately warn consumers about the risks and suppressed information that made vaping look dangerous.
Mejia’s attorneys also claim that JUUL’s advertising campaign was misleading in that it “focused on ‘vaporizing’ rather than smoking,” and it was supposedly unclear that vaping and smoking would deliver nicotine to the bloodstream at the same rate.
Mejia is seeking more than $75,000 in damages, the lawsuit shows.
You can read the full lawsuit here. If you can't see the document below, follow this link.