Leaders from some of the nation’s largest physician groups called for tighter e-cigarette regulations Wednesday, expressing concern over the risk of creating another generation hooked on nicotine.
“No tobacco product is safe, but e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery devices have shifted that conversation,” Dr. Jacqueline Fincher, president-elect of the American College of Physicians, said Wednesday in a panel discussion at the National Press Club.
“Vaping especially appeals to younger patients who are often misled about the harm these products can cause and are certainly enamored by their slick electronic appeal and ’wonderful’ fruit and dessert flavors,” Dr. Fincher said.
Dr. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, urged the Food and Drug Administration to speed up its review of e-cigarettes, remove unapproved products from the market and immediately ban flavored products, including mint and menthol, and youth-targeted marketing.
She also urged the Trump administration to uphold its proposed ban on nontobacco flavored e-cigarettes.
“The latest research from the CDC shows that more young people are experimenting with e-cigarettes, which could result in another generation at risk of nicotine dependence,” Dr. Harris said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that more than 3.6 million U.S. middle and high school students used e-cigarettes last year, up 1.5 million from 2017.
Preliminary data from the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey show that more than a quarter of high school students reported using e-cigarettes within the last 30 days, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Sara Goza, president-elect of American Academy of Pediatrics, recommended raising the legal age for tobacco products to 21. “Without a doubt, we are now facing a youth tobacco epidemic,” she said.
Calls for action from physician groups come as the vaping industry faces mounting pressure and cases of vaping-related lung injuries continue to grow.
A former executive of Juul filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the e-cigarette company alleging it sent at least 1 million contaminated mint pods to the market and refused to recall those pods or issue a safety warning to customers. Siddharth Breja, a former senior vice president of global finance who worked for Juul, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
A Juul spokesperson told The Washington Times that Mr. Breja’s claims are “baseless” and said the allegations are “meritless.”
Juul also is facing investigations from the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission for its marketing practices.
In addition, the Quakertown Community School Board in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, has authorized attorneys to sue vaping companies after a student was found unconscious in a bathroom, The Morning Call reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the bouts of lung injuries linked to e-cigarettes keep climbing, though not as quickly, and officials have not yet pinpointed the cause. CDC officials have reported that most patients reported using THC-based products.
As of last week, 49 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands have reported 1,604 cases of vaping-related lung injuries to the CDC, including 34 deaths. The D.C. Department of Health confirmed its first vaping-related death last week.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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