Even though many smokers switched to e-cigarettes because they thought they were healthier than regular cigarettes, ill and injured people are looking for a good e-cigarette law firm Washington DC residents can trust. Although e-cigarettes are often touted as safer than smoking tobacco, they have been known to cause lung disease. They can also cause burns and other injuries related to the devices overheating, catching on fire, or exploding.
If you or someone you love has become the victim of lung disease because of e-cigarettes, or has been injured by using one of these devices, you may be entitled to compensation. To help you determine whether or not you have a claim that you might be able to get compensation for, contact the Washington DC injury lawyers of Cohen & Cohen who are skilled with product liability law. The dedicated firm of Cohen & Cohen has 30+ years of experience helping people with product liability cases. We are available to discuss your situation with you and to give you a free case evaluation. Someone is available take your call any time of the day or evening, 365 days a year. For an e-cigarette law firm Washington DC is fortunate to have in its midst, contact us today.
E-Cigarettes
When a person “smokes” an e-cigarette, it is commonly known as, vaping. The term, vape, can be used interchangeably with, e-cigarette. As well, some people may refer to an e-cigarette as a pen.
An e-cigarette contains a cartridge that is filled with a nicotine solution and has a small battery in the device that is used to heat the nicotine solution. When heated, the liquid nicotine turns into a vapor that the user inhales and exhales like smoke. While you can see the vapor when someone exhales the same way you can when someone exhales a regular cigarette, it does not have the odor of cigarette smoke. Some e-cigarettes contain flavors such as cherry, lemon or chocolate. The vapor that is exhaled often smells like the scent of the flavor.
The nicotine that is used in the solution used in e-cigarettes is the same nicotine that is in cigarettes, nicotine patches and other nicotine related products. The nicotine solution used in e-cigarettes contains neurotoxins which are said to be poisonous when ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin or eyes.
Because e-cigarettes are a fairly new technology, they were not initially regulated with anywhere near the stringency of the tobacco industry. It was not until 2016 that the FDA announced that minors are no longer allowed to purchase or consume e-cigarettes. Even with this restriction though, childproofing is not required on the e-cigarettes themselves nor are e-cigarette companies required to put warnings on the packaging or devices.
Because of the limited restrictions on e-cigarettes, if you or someone you love has become ill or injured because of e-cigarettes, it may be in your best interest to have a law firm on your side that is experienced with successfully protecting product liability victims. For an e-cigarette law firm Washington DC is proud to call its own, contact Cohen & Cohen
History of E-Cigarettes
While it seems like one day E-cigarettes were just everywhere, it turns out that the first smokeless, non-tobacco cigarette device was patented by Herbert A. Gilbert from Beaver Falls, PA, back in 1967. Glibert’s non-tobacco cigarette was thought to be a safe and harmless method of smoking by replacing burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air. Little did he realize that his invention would eventually spark a huge trend and would later contribute to lung disease, especially in young teens who are partial to the fruity flavors.
In 2003, a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik came up with the first generation e-cigarette, an invention that used a piezoelectric element to vaporize the liquid containing nicotine diluted in a propylene glycol solution after his father passed away from lung cancer.
Lik’s e-cigarette was thought of as a cleaner and safer way to inhale nicotine as a tobacco cessation resource, By 2004, Hon Lik introduced e-cigarettes to the Chinese market through his employer, the Golden Dragon Holdings. Later the company changed its name to Ruyan meaning “almost like smoke” to resemble its product. The product was extremely popular in Asia, the e-cigarette business was booming and gaining popularity in many other countries. It wasn’t until 2007 that e-cigarettes were introduced to the United States.
Hopping on board with its global popularity despite health risks, some major tobacco companies that have purchased or developed e-cigarette products. Those tobacco companies include: Lorillard acquired Blu, which is the leading e-cigarette brand in the United States. Altria acquired GreenSmoke and has its own Mark Ten brand, and Reynolds created its own brand Vuse.In addition to those companies, British American Tobacco sells Vype, Imperial Tobacco sells Ruyan, and Swisher sells E-Swisher. Two other high-selling e-cigarette companies are Logic and NJOY.
E-Cigarette Growth
E-cigarette sales in the United States have grown at an annual rate of 115 percent in the 2009-2012 period. It was previously estimated that the global e-cigarette market could increase to $10 billion by 2017.
The Center for Disease Control reports that from 2012 through 2016, flavored e-cigarette sales as a percentage of all e-cigarette sales increased dramatically nationally, growing from 2.4% to 19.8% )and in all but four states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont). Also Menthol e-cigarette sales were stable nationally at 35% to 40%. During 2015–2016, the percentage of flavored sales decreased in one state (Rhode Island) and increased in 29 states.
The CDC’s findings show that flavored c-cigarette products have drastically increased since 2012, with variations by product type and state. As it is still relatively new, monitoring e-cigarette sales trends are still being monitored so that the efforts to address flavored tobacco product use can be dealt with at federal, state, and local levels.
The E-cigarette sales are set to reach $53.4 billion by 2024. According to research, this increase will also rise to cancer cases related to smoking cigarettes.
If you or someone you love has had cancer, lung disease or other medical issues due to E-cigarette use, you should contact an expert E-cigarette law firm Washington DC to deal with your case.
