HOUSTON – It appears Harris County is looking to add to the hundreds of lawsuits already brought against the vaping company Juul.
Most lawsuit against Juul allege the company’s marketing targets minors and that its products are unreasonably dangerous.
The Record recently obtained documents showing Harris County sent a contingent fee contract to the Office of the Attorney General for Approval on Oct. 12.
The request for review states that the county is seeking to pursue claims against the manufactures, distributors and marketers of vaping and e-cigarette products.
Under the reasons for pursuing litigation, the county put: “In recent years ‘e-cigarettes’ have been introduced into the market. These devices often have a hightech, ‘cool’ look, mimicking USB flash drives, pens, and other everyday items. Vaping products are marketed to Harris County’s youth and lead to significant increases in adverse health effects related to vaping and nicotine addiction.
“According to the CDC, in 2018, 1-in-5 high school students vaped, and 1-in-20 middle schoolers vaped. Harris County alone reported three cases of severe lung illness related to vaping in teens in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic. These numbers will only increase. Harris County is currently in the midst of an unprecedented time in our modern history with the COVID19 pandemic. There is evidence of a correlation between vaping and an increased risk of complications should a JUUL user contract COVID-19.”
The county seeks to recover damages “resulting from the negligent or intentional public nuisance created by Defendants' false marketing, products, nuisance, negligence and gross negligence, common law fraud, civil conspiracy and any other potentially applicable common law or statutory causes of action.”
The documents show a contract between the county and several law firms has already been signed.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo signed the contract on Sept. 15. The attorneys representing the county signed on Oct. 2, a list that includes Dennis Reich, Richard Schechter, David Medina (Chamberlain Hrdlicka) and Michael Solar.
All four attorneys who signed the contract listed an hourly billing rate of $900.
Reich and his firm, Reich & Binstock, are active in the Juul litigation nationally.
In addition to Juul, the other companies being targeted by the county include the Altria Group and Nu Mark Innovations.