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Policy & Law
In a just world, regulations surrounding the vaping industry would be shaped by real facts and sound science. Unfortunately fear mongering and misinformation currently guide public discourse, while policy and laws are influenced by political agendas. Public health goals should always be to create an awareness of the risks associated with smoking and educate consumers about safer alternatives
FDA Fearmongering on Vaping and Seizures Puts Lives at Risk
Gregory Conley, 4/3/2019
According to the FDA, over the last nine years, 35 seizures have reported to the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) by the doctors of individuals who reported that they vaped at some point prior to suffering a seizure or convulsion. Commissioner Gottlieb repeatedly noted in his announcement that no link has actually been established. Indeed, the FDA acknowledged that “a few” of these individuals reported a prior history of seizure diagnosis, “a few” reported the use of marijuana or amphetamines, and some suffered seizures after just “a few puffs” or “up to one day after use.”In a news story published by Vox, Dr. Michael Eriksen, the Dean of the Georgia State University’s School of Public Health, attempted to inject some caution into the debate. “It is 35 cases over 10 years. [That’s] three to five a year with millions of users. So [it’s a] one-in-a-million chance, while one of out two smokers die from smoking,” explained Dr. Eriksen. Not surprisingly, the FDA has thus far failed to acknowledge any “potential safety issues” relating to pharmaceutical nicotine products and seizures. According to the FDA’s AERS, 34 patients reported seizures between 2008 and 2017 while taking Pfizer’s Nicotrol nicotine nasal spray or GSK’s Nicoderm CQ nicotine patch. That is from just two of the many FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy products available across the country.
FDA's Vaping 'Epidemic' Doesn't Hold Up to Inspection
Brad Rodu, 3/15/2019
We all want teens to have healthy lifestyles, but federal and state policies should be driven by facts, not by hyperbolic pronouncements. A leadership change at the FDA (Gottlieb will leave in a month) opens an opportunity to reconsider the regulatory approach to e-cigarettes. If we focus on sensible solutions, rather than onerous regulations, everyone, especially adult smokers, will benefit.
The Deeming Rule: A Brief History and Timeline of the FDA’s Vaping Regulations
Jim McDonald, 2/11/2019
The FDA still hasn’t issued the transparent, standards-based guidelines for vaping manufacturers that were promised in Gottlieb’s July 2017 speech. Vaping businesses that hope to remain in this industry long-term are still guessing what a successful PMTA might look like. And until there is some kind of assurance that any PMTA could pass muster with the agency, no company is willing to take the plunge. It’s been nearly three years since the Deeming Rule was announced, and no vaping industry PMTA’s have been submitted.
American Cancer Society Position Statement on Electronic Cigarettes
2/15/2018
The ACS has always supported any smoker who is considering quitting, no matter what approach they use; there is nothing more important that they can do for their health. To help smokers quit, the ACS recommends that clinicians advise their patients to use FDA-approved cessation aids that have been proven to support successful quit attempts. Many smokers choose to quit smoking without the assistance of a clinician and some opt to use e-cigarettes to accomplish this goal. The ACS recommends that clinicians support all attempts to quit the use of combustible tobacco and work with smokers to eventually stop using any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes. Some smokers, despite firm clinician advice, will not attempt to quit smoking cigarettes and will not use FDA approved cessation medications. These individuals should be encouraged to switch to the least harmful form of tobacco product possible; switching to the exclusive use of e-cigarettes is preferable to continuing to smoke combustible products.
UK blasts Surgeon General; Calls vaping ‘a great public health opportunity’
Matt Rowland, 12/11/2016
Our review of the evidence found e-cigarette use carries a fraction of the risk of smoking, a conclusion reiterated by the Royal College of Physicians earlier this year. No new evidence has been published to contradict this,” Fenton stated. “The worst part of the report is its policy recommendations. They may be well-meant, but no consideration is given to their likely unintended consequences. Limiting smokers’ access to the much less risky option of vaping is likely to contribute to keeping smokers smoking and smoking-related disease and death going at the current rate.”
Hospitals Abandon Vaping Ban After Evidence on E-Cigarette Saftey
Guy Bentley, 5/13/2016
Two UK hospitals abolished a ban on the use of e-cigarettes Thursday thanks to overwhelming evidence showing they’re vastly safer than tobacco cigarettes. A National Health Service Trust, which runs two hospitals in the city of Nottingham, revised its position on vaping in light of a groundbreaking report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), which enthusiastically endorsed e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to smoking. “We have a duty to help our patients and staff make healthy life choices, and can’t ignore the potential benefits of electronic cigarettes as a nicotine replacement therapy,” said Dr. Stephen Fowlie, medical director at the trust. “We’re now allowing e-cigarettes on our grounds to give our patients, staff, and visitors more choice in how they quit smoking,” Fowlie added.
New York Court Rules that Vaping Is Not Smoking
Jimmy Hafrey, 2/21/2016
“An electronic cigarette neither burns nor contains tobacco,” the court noted. “Instead, the use of such a device, which is commonly referred to as ‘vaping,’ involves the inhalation of vaporized e-cigarette liquid consisting of water, nicotine, a base of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin and occasionally, flavoring.”
Nicotine and Health
American Council on Science and Health, 2013
Smokers smoke for the nicotine…but they die from the smoke. Nicotine is not a carcinogen. And it is not toxic in the amount delivered by a cigarette. Many smokers, and even some physicians, falsely believe that nicotine is the primary cancer-causing agent in cigarette smoking. “This publication clearly demonstrates that it is the inhaled products of combustion of a lighted cigarette — the smoke —which causes disease and death, and not the nicotine,” says Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health. Council findings include 1) Cancerous effects: Electronic cigarette vapor appears chemically incapable of causing cancer as cigarette smoke has done. E-cigarette vapor contains toxicants concentrations averaging less than one percent of the concentrations in tobacco cigarette smoke, 2) Taxation efforts: Governments looking to recoup future excise losses on declining tobacco sales could be tempted to tax e-cigarettes. This would make electronic cigarettes less price-competitive and would have the unwanted side effect of protecting tobacco sales, 3) Respiratory effects: These randomized controlled trials followed participants for six and 12 months, and found no serious adverse events attributable to electronic cigarettes, 4) Lung function: Lung function was not signifcantly decreased in 15 smokers using e-cigarettes, or in 15 never-smokers inhaling the vapor of e-cigarettes or inhaling smoke; lung function was, however, significantly decreased seven percent by active tobacco smoking, 5) Cardiovascular: Arterial stiffness is not increased from vaping; Red and white blood cells are not increased in the peripheral blood in the first hour after an e-cigarette either actively or passively inhaled; Nicotine administered by electronic cigarette can relieve chronic idiopathic neutrophilia, 6) Brain effects: Nicotine in e-cigarettes reduces the urge to smoke and improves mood, working memory, and prospective memory, and 7) Smoking Gateway: On the evidence to date, the answer is no. The percentage risk of never smokers using e-cigarettes (whether adolescents or adults) is near zero.