The e-cigarette company Juul was ordered by the FDA on Thursday to stop selling all of their products on the US market. The company’s application to keep their products on the market was rejected. All products must be removed from distribution or the company will risk enforcement action.
Juul is known for vaping cartridges and pods that offer an alternative to cigarette smoking. Their vaping products are popular with teens and adults, due to their sweet-tasting pods, but many regulators fear that they present health risks.
Vaping may be less harmful than smoking, but it’s not considered safe. E-cigarettes do have nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals that are heated to create an aerosol that is inhaled. Many of the chemicals are toxic.
The FDA said, there is “insufficient evidence to assess the potential toxicological risks” of using the products.
The company is being blamed for the teenage vaping crisis. The FDA has already banned it from selling the flavor creme brûlée, which was very popular with teenage smokers.
Since the end of last year, the FDA has approved e-cigarette applications for tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes from RJ Reynolds, Logic and other companies, but it rejected applications for more than a million other e-cigarettes and related products last year.
Anti-vaping groups have complained about the FDA’s slow decision making process regarding vaping devices from popular e-cigarette companies, including Juul, the most popular seller on the market even though it’s sales have plunged.“Today’s action is further progress on the FDA’s commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards,” Dr. Robert M. Califf, the FDA commissioner, said in a statement.
The FDA ruling is part of its effort to have new guidelines for vaping products and to reduce illness and death due to nicotine-containing vaping products and cigarettes. In order the keep their products on the market, the companies must prove that their products are beneficial to the public’s health. That boils down to their products helping adults quit regular smoking, and not causing addiction to vaping or smoking in teenagers.
On Tuesday, the FDA announced its plans to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes, a move that could take years but has to start somewhere. In April, the FDA moved toward a ban on menthol cigarettes.
The FDA has authority over e-cigarettes, and they can decide which vaping products are allowed to be sold. However, like in the example about nicotine reduction, the implementation could take a long time. Not only does the FDA have to face a public comment phase, but they will be resisted by the tobacco industry lobbies and the vaping industry.
Juul is expected to appeal the FDA decision.“The FDA’s decision to remove all Juul products from the marketplace is both most welcomed and long overdue,” said Erika Sward, national assistant vice president of advocacy for the American Lung Association. “Juul’s campaign to target and hook kids on tobacco has gone on for far too long.”
