(MINNEAPOLIS) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is set to make the opening statement in his state’s lawsuit against Juul Labs on Tuesday, marking the first time any of the thousands of cases against the e-cigarette maker over its alleged marketing to minors will be heard in a courtroom.

In 2019, Minnesota filed a lawsuit against Juul, claiming the San Francisco-based firm illegally targeted young people with its products to make a new generation addicted to nicotine. Ellison has refused to specify how much money the state seeks in damages and civil penalties. However, upon announcing the action, he said it might be in the ballpark of Minnesota’s historic $7.1 billion settlement with the cigarette industry in 1998.

Juul has faced thousands of lawsuits nationwide, but most have settled, including 39 with other states and U.S. territories. In 2020, Minnesota added tobacco industry behemoth Altria, which previously owned a minority stake in Juul, as a co-defendant. Altria completed its divestment earlier this month and claimed to have lost its $12.8 billion investment. Altria announced a $2.75 billion investment in rival electronic cigarette firm NJOY a few days later.

“We will demonstrate how Juul and Altria misled and hooked a generation of Minnesota youth on their products, causing both great harms to the public and great expense to the State to remedy that harm,” Ellison said.

The jury trial will run three weeks before Hennepin County District Judge Laurie Miller. The landmark 1998 lawsuit by the state and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota against the big cigarette companies took roughly four months.

Juul has faced thousands of lawsuits nationwide, but most have settled in Minnesota

This lawsuit resulted in the release of millions of pages of previously secret industry papers and a $7.1 billion settlement soon before the state’s closing statements. Part of the money was used to fund anti-smoking programs, but Juul and Altria pointed out in court filings that lawmakers chose to spend most of the money on state government.

Ellison wants to deliver part of the state’s opening statement personally before passing it off to attorneys from two outside law firms handling the case for Minnesota. Consumer fraud, public nuisance, unjust enrichment, and conspiracy are all alleged in the case. A brief submitted last week provides a taste of the state’s claims.

“Defendant JUUL, in a conspiracy with Altria, preyed on and enticed Minnesota’s children to buy a product that may sentence them to a lifetime of nicotine addiction and other destructive behaviors,” state attorneys stated. “the company launched a design and marketing campaign aimed at enticing children, focusing on attracting ‘cool kids,’ creating a nicotine’ buzz,’ and utilizing social media and celebrities as ‘pushers’ of its addictive products.” Defendants allege their actions were in the name of assisting “aging smokers” to quit smoking. That claim is false; it is a ruse.”

According to Juul, Minnesota rejected settlement offers identical to those it received from other states, which gave “hundreds of millions of dollars to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs in those states.”

Effective interventions to address underage use of all tobacco products in Minnesota

“Effective interventions to address underage use of all tobacco products in Minnesota, including vapor, rely on evidence-based policies, programs, and enforcement, not headline-driven trials,” the statement said. “This is the approach Juul Labs supports and has helped to implement.”

The creator of Marlboro cigarettes and other tobacco products, Altria Group, formerly Phillip Morris Cos., is downplaying its role. In a court filing last week, it stated that it purchased a 35% investment in Juul Labs in 2018 after its own vaping devices failed to find popularity, and only after Juul informed Altria “and announced to the world” that it had made “meaningful changes” to its marketing methods.

sAltria, based in Richmond, Virginia, said the services it offered to Juul lasted slightly over a year and ended in March 2020, including offering key counter space in retailers, mailing a Juul ad, and offering discounts to adult smokers. And it contends that its sponsorship did not materially raise sales of Juul products in Minnesota nor the use of e-cigarettes by minors in the state.

Juul, which debuted in 2015, quickly gained the market leader in the United States due to the appeal of flavors such as mango, mint, and creme brulee. Its popularity was boosted among teens, some of whom became addicted to Juul’s high-nicotine pods. In response to the backlash, Juul discontinued all U.S. advertising and its flavors in 2019. Juul’s appeal with teenagers has now declined, and its share of the multibillion-dollar market has decreased to around 33% from a high of 75%.

In June, the Food and Drug Administration rejected Juul’s proposal to keep its products on the market as a smoking substitute for adults, though that decision is under appeal. In September, Juul agreed to pay roughly $440 million to settle a two-year probe by 33 states into its marketing of high-nicotine products.

States still suing Juul include New York, California, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Alaska, Illinois, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

SOURCE – (AP)

California’s SACRAMENTO — A new bill introduced on Friday in the state Legislature would shield doctors in California who send abortion drugs to clients in other states from legal action.

A doctor accused of administering abortion drugs in another state cannot be extradited to California under the proposed legislation. Also, it would protect doctors from sanctions. And it would permit Californian doctors to file lawsuits against anyone who tries to prevent them from performing abortions.

The legislation would protect only Californian physicians. A doctor would not be protected if he or she traveled outside of California to perform an abortion on a patient in another state. Also, individuals who obtain the drug in other states would not be protected.

The bill’s sponsor, state senator Nancy Skinner, a Democrat from Berkeley, said her goal is to ensure that Californians who are visiting or temporarily residing in other states, such as college students, can still receive medication permitted in their home state. However, she admitted that California doctors who treat patients who reside in other states would also be subject to the legislation.

Skinner declared, “This is important healthcare. No matter where their patients are physically located, our healthcare professionals should be safeguarded when treating them.

According to Skinner’s office, similar laws have been proposed or approved in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Vermont. The Code of Connecticut prohibits extradition — unless the individual fled from the state requesting them — as well as criminal summonses from other states linked to reproductive health care services that are legal in Connecticut.

Rep. Matt Blumenthal of Connecticut, a Democrat and co-chair of the General Assembly’s Reproductive Rights Caucus, said that if a provider is providing telehealth services to someone, even if they query where they are, they have to take it on faith. “We don’t want to turn healthcare professionals into the patients’ police. Also, we don’t want to require them to conduct an inquiry each time they use telehealth.

The mifepristone abortion medication is being distributed despite efforts by other governments to stop it.

The mifepristone abortion medication is being distributed despite efforts by other governments to stop it. Attorneys general in 20 states, the majority of which have Republican governors, have cautioned some of the biggest pharmacy chains in the country that distributing the drug within their borders could result in legal repercussions.

Idaho forbids most abortions, including those caused by the medicine. California must extradite doctors who disobey Idaho laws, according to Blaine Conzatti, head of the anti-abortion Idaho Family Policy Center.

Conzatti criticized Skinner’s bill, saying it was incredibly arrogant. “It would completely overturn our federal system and flaunt the conventional relationship between states.”

Skinner’s proposal extends beyond abortions. Also, it would safeguard doctors who send drugs for transsexual patients and contraceptives.

There are existing provisions in California preventing courts from enforcing judgments rendered outside of California against abortion providers and volunteers. The purpose of that statute was to safeguard medical professionals who perform abortions on out-of-state visitors to California. Proponents of abortion say that the U.S. Constitution has a clause that says states must give the laws of other states “full faith and credit,” and that measures like these go against that clause.

Federal courts have acknowledged an exception to that rule, and it pertains to legislation in one state that goes against the “public policy” of another state. According to Skinner’s law, it is against California’s public policy for doctors to be paid for prescribing abortion drugs.

We take great caution, Skinner added.

Since more than 20 years ago, it has been permissible to utilize abortion drugs in the United States until the 10th week of pregnancy. In the U.S., it is currently the most popular abortion technique. A federal judge in Texas is debating whether to delay or revoke the drug’s approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a decision that would be binding on all states, not just those that have banned abortions.

A total of 17 bills, including ones to increase access to contraception and safeguard patients’ privacy, have been introduced by Democrats in California this year to protect abortion rights, including Skinner’s bill.

SOURCE – (AP)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – According to health officials, an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia died from bird flu, marking the country’s first known human H5N1 infection since 2014.

Bird flu, also called avian influenza, usually spreads among birds. It wasn’t thought to be a threat to people until an outbreak in Hong Kong’s live poultry markets in 1997. Most cases of the virus in humans around the world have been caused by direct contact with infected poultry. However, there have recently been reports of infections in a number of mammals, and the virus could change so that it spreads more easily between people.

The girl from the rural southeastern province of Prey Veng fell ill on February 16 and was taken to a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh. The Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday night that she died shortly after being diagnosed with a fever of up to 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) with coughing and throat pain.

The ministry said in another statement Thursday that health officials took samples from a dead wild bird at a conservation area near the girl’s home. It also stated that teams in the area would warn residents not to touch dead or sick birds.

Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng warned that children who feed or collect eggs from domesticated poultry, play with the birds, or clean their cages are especially vulnerable to bird flu.

Bird Flu Killed The 11 Year Old

H5N1 infection causes symptoms similar to other flu, such as coughing, aches, and fever, and in severe cases, patients can develop life-threatening pneumonia.

According to the World Health Organization, Cambodia had 56 human cases of H5N1 between 2003 and 2014, with 37 of them being fatal.

In 21 countries, the WHO has received reports of approximately 870 human infections and 457 deaths. However, the rate has slowed, with approximately 170 infections and 50 deaths occurring in the last seven years.

Earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about avian influenza infections in mammals such as minks, otters, foxes, and sea lions.

“H5N1 has been widely spread in wild birds and poultry for 25 years, but the recent spillover to mammals must be closely monitored,” he warned.

A 9-year-old girl from Ecuador became the first reported case of human infection in Latin America and the Caribbean in January. She was given antiviral medication.

Tedros stated that the WHO continues to consider the risk of bird flu to humans low.

“However, we cannot assume that will continue, and we must be prepared for any change in the status quo,” he said. He advised people not to touch dead or sick wild animals and urged countries to beef up surveillance of areas where people and animals interact.

SOURCE – (AP)