Since FDA has made a mess of Juul, the health community & Congress should force FDA to ban menthol e-cigs now

The day after FDA denied Juul’s application to continue selling its e-cigarettes on June 23, 2022, Juul sued and obtained an emergency Stay from the US Court of Appeals.  On July 5, the FDA announced that it was issuing its own Administrative Stay and allowed Juul to remain on the market while the FDA considersContinue reading “Since FDA has made a mess of Juul, the health community & Congress should force FDA to ban menthol e-cigs now”

White House OKs FDA moving forward on reducing nicotine in cigs; FDA can and should ban menthol ecigs now

On June 21, 2022, the Biden Administration announced that FDA would be moving forward to develop a product standard limiting nicotine in cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products to nonaddictive levels. FDA has been formally considering such a rule for a long time. In 2018, FDA solicited public comment on such a rule. At thatContinue reading “White House OKs FDA moving forward on reducing nicotine in cigs; FDA can and should ban menthol ecigs now”

Direct evidence that Juul increases nicotine addiction, especially among kids

John Pierce and his colleagues at UCSD just published “Daily E-cigarette Use and the Surge in JUUL Sales: 2017-2019” that shows shows that after Juul came on the market there was a 3.6-fold higher rate of progression to daily e-cigarette use — a marker of addiction — among 14-17 year olds compared to 3 yearsContinue reading “Direct evidence that Juul increases nicotine addiction, especially among kids”

FDA prejudged e-cigs as good before it evaluated a single application

An August 31, 2020 memo detailing FDA’s plan for dealing with the expected flood of Premarket Tobacco Applications (PMTAs), clearly prejudges e-cigarettes as a good thing before looking at a single application. In particular, the FDA describes its “public heath goals” as including Ensure a variety of ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems] have an opportunityContinue reading “FDA prejudged e-cigs as good before it evaluated a single application”

FDA does JT/Logic’s work for it to justify authorizing 3 of its ENDS

On March 24, 2022 FDA authorized the sale of three electronic nicotine delivery systems distributed by Japan Tobacco’s US company Logic Technology Development, – two conventional e-cigarettes and one heated tobacco product.  FDA withheld the Technical Project Lead (TPL) report that provides the scientific justifications for its decision. Thanks to my colleague Lauren Lempert filingContinue reading “FDA does JT/Logic’s work for it to justify authorizing 3 of its ENDS”

FDA proposed updating its HPHC list in 2019; it needs to finish the job

One of the nerdy, but very important, parts of the FDA tobacco product regulatory process is the list of “Hazardous and Potentially Hazardous Compounds” (HPHC) list that FDA released in 2012. This list contains 93 bad chemicals — mostly carcinogens — that FDA identified as important when assessing the risks of tobacco products. It hasContinue reading “FDA proposed updating its HPHC list in 2019; it needs to finish the job”

FDA’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes explains why FDA needs to reverse its de facto approvals of menthol e-cigarettes

The FDA’s decisions to act on premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for e-cigarettes has been explicit about two points: (1) it is authorizing tobacco flavors because kids don’t seem to use tobacco flavored e-cigs and (2) it is blocking flavored e-cigs – except menthol – because kids like flavors.  Because they can’t justify allowing mentholContinue reading “FDA’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes explains why FDA needs to reverse its de facto approvals of menthol e-cigarettes”

FDA authorizes two more RJR tobacco e-cigs and lets menthol remain on the market, ignoring its own conclusion that menthol reinforces nicotine addiction in kids’ developing brains

Today (May 12, 2022) FDA announced that it was authorizing the sale of two additional RJR e-cigarettes, Vuse Vibe (a vape pen) and Vuse Ciro (similar to previously authorized Vuse Solo). FDA didn’t act on RJR’s most popular Vuse product, Vuse Alto, so it continues on the market. Following FDA’s de facto policy, both wereContinue reading “FDA authorizes two more RJR tobacco e-cigs and lets menthol remain on the market, ignoring its own conclusion that menthol reinforces nicotine addiction in kids’ developing brains”

Ending the sale of flavored tobacco products is the real harm reduction

Yesterday (May 9, 2022) I testified before the Colorado Senate Finance Committee supporting a proposed statewide ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products. As usual, opponents claimed that flavored products were needed for “harm reduction.” In listening to their testimony, I realized that for e-cigs and other tobacco products to actually reduce harm,Continue reading “Ending the sale of flavored tobacco products is the real harm reduction”

A Juul settlement that would actually protect kids

The first of the private lawsuits against Juul is scheduled to go to trial next month in San Francisco. The whole legal system is designed to encourage voluntary settlement, so it is likely that there are or soon will be serious negotiations between the plaintiffs and Juul in an effort to avoid the risks thatContinue reading “A Juul settlement that would actually protect kids”