The FDA threatens to pull out e-cigarettes out of the market and cites possible "existential threat"
The Food and Drug Administration says that e-cigarettes are facing an uncertain future in US markets unless the youth smoking rate falls over the next year.
Speaking on a public hearing Friday in Silver Spring, MD, FDA commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb noted that he could see the entire category of e-cigarette and "vaping" products removed from the store shelves, unless something changed to stop it increasing the frequency of teen and adolescent e-cigarette use.
"I fear that the survey Data that we get for next year will continue to show an increase in the use of e-cigarettes for youth. We enter the field between March and May with the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey," Gottlieb says. I "tell you this. If youth use continues to rise and we see significant increases in use in 201[ads1]9, beyond the dramatic increase in 2018, the whole category will face an existential threat," he added.
Gottlieb pointed to data from the agency indicating that youth "wake up" prices had almost doubled over the past year due to increased availability and convenience of e-cigarette products. In his remarks, Gottlieb designated the e-cigarette mark JUUL as a top choice among high school and middle school students.
"This progress is suppressed – even if it is renewed – by the last, dramatic increase in youth weapons," Gottlieb said of the falling number of traditional smokers. "A few years ago, it would have been incredible for me to be here and discuss the potential for drug preparation to help dependent youth workers quit nicotine."
E-cigarette use spiked 78 percent among high school students and 48 percent among school students over the past year, FDA says. Altogether, about 1.5 million young people took over during 2017-2018 despite the Trump administration's efforts to limit youth welfare.
A spokesman for JUUL told The Hill on Friday that the company condemned any use of its products among minors. 19659002] "Except for the use of JUUL and other weapons products is completely unacceptable to us and is directly opposite our mission to eliminate cigarettes by offering existing adult smokers a true alternative to flammable cigarettes," said Ted Kwong, a JUUL Labs spokesman. 19659002] "We are fully committed to implementing our action plan to limit the use of youth, and this is unchanged since we announced our plan in November," he added. "We want to be a transparent, committed and committed partner with the FDA, state lawyers, local municipalities and community organizations in the efforts to combat minor use."
