Category Archives: tobacco companies

Yet another incomplete economic analysis claims menthol ban would hurt economy, this time in LA

Los Angeles is debating a comprehensive ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. Like clockwork, the California Fuels & Convenience Alliance, who represents gas stations and convenience stores, has delivered a report to the City Council claiming that banning menthol would cost the city jobs and taxes. To reach this conclusion”Economic Impact of theContinue reading “Yet another incomplete economic analysis claims menthol ban would hurt economy, this time in LA”

Juul fails to properly report clinical trial results

Drug and medical device companies have a long history of selective reporting the results of clinical trials used to test their new products and even of burying results they don’t like. In an effort to make it harder for companies to manipulate reporting of results, the federal government (NIH) created ClinicalTrials.gov, where companies and othersContinue reading “Juul fails to properly report clinical trial results”

Can you believe the papers in the AJHB issue Juul financed?

When I wrote “Surprise! Juul publishes a paper concluding that e-cigs save lives” criticizing a paper in American Journal of Health Behavior for being based on questionable risk estimates, my first draft said I was surprised that the paper got past independent peer reviewers. But then I realized that all but one of the 13 papersContinue reading “Can you believe the papers in the AJHB issue Juul financed?”

Federal court adding RICO claims to lawsuits against Juul opens up opportunity to inform the public and FDA

On April 13, 2021, federal judge William H. Orrick granted plaintiffs’ motion to add allegations that Altria (owner of Philip Morris and part of Juul) and the Founder and Director Defendants violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”). Specifically, Judge Orrick allowed allegations that the “company and those persons allegedly conducted actsContinue reading “Federal court adding RICO claims to lawsuits against Juul opens up opportunity to inform the public and FDA”

The ACLU has a long history of taking money from and supporting the tobacco industry

I was not surprised when the American Civil Liberties Union came out against the FDA’s plan to end menthol cigarettes, repeating baseless industry arguments that getting rid of menthol would lead to more police violence against African Americans. Why? Because the ACLU has been carrying the tobacco industry’s water for decades. The ACLU has opposedContinue reading “The ACLU has a long history of taking money from and supporting the tobacco industry”

Surprise! Juul publishes a paper concluding that e-cigs save lives

At a time that the FDA is deciding whether to authorize continued sale of Juul e-cigs a group of Juul scientists have published “Modeling the population health impact of E.N.D.S in the U.S.” that concludes that “the availability of ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems, which includes e-cigs] is projected to reduce smoking and prevent 2.5Continue reading “Surprise! Juul publishes a paper concluding that e-cigs save lives”

Why FDA’s reduced exposure marketing order for IQOS is not a reliable global model

There are two separate decisions that the FDA makes about new products: (1) whether to authorize the sale of the product, and, if they allow sale of a product, (2) whether to allow a company to make reduced exposure or reduced risk claims about the product. To further confuse the situation, the separate decisions aboutContinue reading “Why FDA’s reduced exposure marketing order for IQOS is not a reliable global model”

Many industries share “spin” strategies to undermine science they don’t like

We have known for a long time that the tobacco companies have developed sophisticated strategies to “create doubt” and attack scientific results that threaten their profits. Similar strategies have been identified for other industries. Now Rebecca Goldberg and Laura Vandenberg have published “The science of spin: targeted strategies to manufacture doubt with detrimental effects onContinue reading “Many industries share “spin” strategies to undermine science they don’t like”

FDA should take Puff Bar at its word that it is not a tobacco product … and ban them as illegal drug delivery devices

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gave the FDA jurisdiction to regulate tobacco products, defined as products “made or derived from tobacco.” This means that any product that includes nicotine derived from tobacco is subject to FDA jurisdiction. There has been discussion in academic circles about nicotine delivery products being made fromContinue reading “FDA should take Puff Bar at its word that it is not a tobacco product … and ban them as illegal drug delivery devices”