Six U.S. states and the District of Columbia reached a $462 million settlement with e-cigarette giant Juul Labs, YahooFinance.com reported. The settlement represents the company's largest multi-state agreement to date to end one of a string of disputes over its allegedly deceptive ads targeting children. Announced Wednesday, the settlement ends lawsuits against the company brought starting in 2019 by California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, and the District of Columbia. The suits accuse Juul of violating their respective state laws that prohibit harmful and deceptive marketing practices. Juul, owned in part by tobacco giant Altria (MO), did not admit wrongdoing in entering the settlement. “Taking a page out of Big Tobacco’s playbook, Juul misled consumers about the health risk of their products,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said during a press conference Wednesday. “The e-cigarette company falsely led consumers to believe that its vapes were safer than cigarettes and contained less nicotine. However, just one pod of Juul contains as much nicotine as a whole pack of cigarettes.”
