House Democrats Ask FDA to Ban All Flavored E-Cigarettes

A group of House Democrats has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban all flavored e-cigarettes, including disposable products, The Hill reports.

In a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, 43 House Democrats urged the agency to get rid of exemptions for disposable e-cigarettes. The FDA has banned fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, but some companies are trying to avoid the ban by selling fruit-flavored disposable vaporizers such as Puff Bar, which are advertised as having tobacco-free nicotine.

The legislators called on the FDA to remove from the market all flavored e-cigarettes that are currently under FDA review, to deny applications for any flavored e-cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products, and to deny issuing a marketing order for any e-cigarette that poses an increased risk of youth initiation or addiction.

“We strongly recommend that FDA’s premarket review process require manufacturers to provide convincing evidence that their products do not increase youth use of nicotine and tobacco in ways that increase the risk of abuse and addiction among youth,” the legislators wrote. “Products that quickly addict new users, including youth, and then sustain addiction should not be allowed to stay on, or enter, the market.”