Tobacco

Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless on Wednesday (Sept. 25) told lawmakers that implementing a user fee program for e-cigarette makers could help the agency with its electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) product enforcement activities.

House Oversight and Reform consumer policy subcommittee Chair Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) says Congress should investigate so-called fourth-generation vaping products, a term one public health official used to describe newer products that contain higher levels of nicotine that are particularly addictive.

FDA’s law enforcement arm, the Office of Criminal Investigations, is investigating the outbreak of lung illnesses that have been associated with vaping products, the agency’s tobacco center director Mitch Zeller said Thursday (Sept. 19).

The Trump administration has directed FDA to take swift action to remove non-tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products from the market as a result of preliminary data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey that shows a continued rise in youth e-cigarette use, especially through flavored products that appeal to kids, HHS announced in a Wednesday (Sept. 11) press statement.

House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and oversight subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO) will hold a hearing Sept. 25 during which officials from FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health agencies will testify about the public health impacts of e-cigarettes, their appeal to young people and the regulatory authorities related to e-cigarette manufacturing, sales and use.

As public health agencies and lawmakers called for consumers to possibly stop using e-cigarettes after reports of vaping related illnesses, vapor product advocates, former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb and some in the media point to conflicting statements from FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on whether vaping liquids or e-cigarettes are contributing to the illnesses.

Marijuana vaping devices are now part of the investigation by FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into the cause of the sudden appearance this summer of mysterious lung illnesses, FDA Acting Commissioner Ned Sharpless said Friday (Aug. 30).

E-cigarette maker JUUL Labs has dropped its membership with the Vapor Technology Association, saying Tuesday (Aug. 20) there are “too many critical policy issues” on which JUUL and the association disagree.

An FDA advisory committee will convene in September to discuss GlaxoSmithKline’s proposed over-the-counter (OTC) nicotine oral spray for smoking cessation, the agency announced Friday (Aug. 16).