Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Vaping Companies Sue Feds to Delay Review of Products

A vaping industry group sued the federal government on Wednesday to delay an upcoming review of thousands of e-cigarette products on the market.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A vaping industry group sued the federal government on Wednesday to delay an upcoming review of thousands of e-cigarette products on the market.

The legal challenge by the Vapor Technology Association is the latest hurdle in the Food and Drug Administration's years-long effort to regulate the multibillion-dollar vaping industry, which includes makers and retailers of e-cigarette devices and flavored solutions.

The vaping group claims that the deadline of May2020  to submit products for review could wipe out many smaller companies. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Kentucky — a tobacco state.

E-cigarettes appeared in the United States more than a decade ago and have grown in popularity despite little research on their long-term effects, including whether they can help smokers quit cigarettes.

In recent years, health authorities have warned of an epidemic of vaping by teenagers, particularly the leading brand Juul, known for its high nicotine content and easy-to-conceal device, which resembles a flash drive.

Nicotine is what makes cigarettes and e-cigarettes addictive, and health experts say the chemical is harmful to developing brains.

San Francisco-based Juul is among 800 member companies of the vaping association.

The 2009 law that gave the FDA power over traditional tobacco products did not mention e-cigarettes. It wasn't until 2016 that the agency expanded its own regulations to include the devices. Since then FDA regulators have repeatedly pushed back the timeline, at one point until 2022, to begin reviewing the legions of vaping products that have come to market.

Frustrated by the delays, anti-tobacco groups, including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, sued the FDA to speed up the process. In June, a federal judge sided with the groups and set a deadline of next May for all companies to submit their products for federal review. The FDA has until September to appeal the ruling.

The vapor group's lawsuit said the FDA has now set five different deadlines.

"It is time for FDA to stop moving the goalposts and changing the rules in the middle of the game to the detriment of our manufacturers and small businesses," said Tony Abboud, the group's executive director.

Vaping executives have long said that most companies will not be able to afford to conduct large, expensive studies needed for FDA review. Only products that meet FDA standards would be permitted to be sold.

The FDA declined to comment on the lawsuit.

__

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for content.

Categories / Government, Health

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...