Electronic cigarettes were first developed in the early 1960s, but more than 40 years passed before manufacturers combined a battery, an ultrasonic atomizer, and plastic cartridges with nicotine and flavorants to create the current variants of e-cigarettes. Those components generate moist smokeless air that contains nicotine, flavors, and other substances, supposedly with reduced tar and nicotine risks.
E-cigarette problems first arose when rechargeable batteries in vaping devices overheated and exploded, causing some e-cigarette users to suffer from severe burns and shrapnel injuries. E-cigarette explosion risks were quickly overshadowed by direct vaping health risks that led to hundreds of cases of irreversible lung damage and more than twenty fatalities.
Showard Law Firm is now reviewing cases of people who have sustained vaping-related illnesses and injuries. If you have been seriously harmed by vaping products, including contaminated vaping cartridges, you may be entitled to substantial monetary compensation for your losses, including medical bills and lost wages from missed time at work. Contact our law firm today to get more information on who is eligible to file a JUUL lawsuit.
The Dangers of Vaping
The dangers of vaping have come to the forefront of the public consciousness recently, with hundreds of vaping-related lung illnesses reported across the United States. Some of these cases have been connected to contaminants in the vaping juices or solutions that are heated and aerosolized by e-cigarette devices. Those contaminants include:
- Formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen that is used as an industrial fungicide and an embalming liquid
- Vitamin E acetate, a chemical oil that can cause chronic coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath
- Endotoxins, glucans, and other bacterial and fungal toxins
- Miscellaneous “cutting” agents that may have as-yet-unknown adverse health consequences
Some of these substances are produced as byproducts of the vaping process. Accordingly, e-cigarette users should not assume that their vaping solutions are contaminant-free solely because they were purchased from more reputable vendors.
The Long-Term Effects of Vaping
Because e-cigarettes are relatively new products, researchers are only beginning to recognize and understand the long-term adverse health consequences of vaping. Among other ailments, physicians have seen:
- Lung inflammation that paralyzes the lungs’ cilia, which renders a user’s lungs unable to filter microbes and particulates, and can lead to lipoid or chemical pneumonia
- Cardiovascular harm from nicotine and other substances that are inhaled via vaping
- Seizures from concentrated doses of nicotine that may be included in vaping cartridges
- “Popcorn lung” problems from diacetyl additives in vaping solutions
Liability for Vaping-Relating Illnesses
If you use e-cigarettes and vaping products and you have been diagnosed with a lung ailment or other illness that was likely caused by vaping, you might have a valid cause of action for damages against the marketers and manufacturers of those products. Injured plaintiffs have filed individual and class action lawsuits to claim compensation for their injuries based on several theories of liability:
- That producers of e-cigarettes and vaping cartridges fraudulently marketed those products as safe alternatives to cigarettes;
- That e-cigarettes are defectively designed and are inherently dangerous, and that e-cigarette producers failed to warn users of those dangers;
- That Juul (the largest e-cigarette company) improperly marketed its products to underage users of vaping products through social media and other platforms that target a younger audience.
In extreme cases in which a vaping illness leads to a fatality, the victim’s survivors might also have a cause of action for wrongful death.
Educate Yourself About Vaping Health Risks
Showard Law Firm represents individuals throughout the United States in lawsuits to recover damages for injuries and illnesses related to e-cigarettes, including ailments connected to impurities in vaping cartridges and injuries from exploding e-cig devices.
We appreciate an individual’s freedom to make his or her own decisions to use e-cigarettes. When those decisions are improperly influenced by fraudulent marketing or when someone suffers injuries or illnesses because they were not aware of the inherent dangers of vaping products, those individuals also have the freedom to pursue damages from the negligent parties that are responsible for the harm that was done to them.
Please call Showard Law Firm today for a free consultation. We will provide you with all of the information you need to decide if filing a vape injury lawsuit is the right decision for you and your family.
Additional Resources:
- cnn.com: A Sixth Person Died from Vaping-Related Lung Disease. Here’s What You Need to Know. https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/10/health/vaping-outbreak-2019-explainer/index.html
- puffco.com: A History of Vaping. https://www.puffco.com/blogs/puffco-news/84833156-a-history-of-vaping
- health.com: The Dangers of Vaping Doctors Want Everyone to Know. https://www.health.com/smoking/dangers-of-vaping
