FDA Commissioner: Tobacco Companies Need to Stop Kids From Vaping

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said this week that tobacco companies need to speed up their efforts to stop kids from using e-cigarettes, Bloomberg reports.

“They better step up and step up soon — to address these trends along with us,” he said at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. “So far, I must say, I’ve mostly been disappointed by the tepid response from companies that know that a meaningful portion of their sales are being derived from kids. They need to look at this as a matter of urgent public health and not a PR challenge. It’s more than their business model that’s on the line. It’s the lives of American kids.”

The FDA is taking aggressive steps to bring enforcement actions against companies that sell e-cigarettes to minors, Gottlieb said.