B.C. just made it easier to sue vape manufacturers for future health impacts.
The Vaping Product Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act was passed by a vote of 49 to 42 in the legislature on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
The legislation allows the government to sue manufacturers of vaping products to recoup public health costs in a similar way that it successfully pursued opioid and tobacco companies.
“This is modelled after that legislation,” Attorney General Niki Sharma said when she introduced the legislation in October. “It gives us the tools to be able to launch a similar style of class action or join other lawsuits.”
The bill itself does not take action against companies, but allows the government to pursue future legislation.
This is the first of this kind of legislation to target vapes. The government is planning similar legislation for the spring session aimed at manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.