Next FDA chief must continue fight against teen vaping, local health officials urge
CNNIn an almost uniform response to the impending exit of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, city and county public health officials are urging the Trump administration to go bigger in its response to adolescents’ growing use of e-cigarettes. But Dr. Sara Cody, who runs the Santa Clara County, Calif., health department, views the steps taken by the FDA as “too little and too late.” She pointed to proposed regulations that haven’t taken effect and to limits on how flavored vapes are sold that she and others argued did not go far enough. And, during a wide-ranging interview this week with KHN, Gottlieb reiterated his expectation that “the FDA is prepared to look at banning” these products, specifically mentioning the products that use flavored pods, or cartridges, “because those are the ones kids are abusing.” Last week, the agency put out a draft guidance that would bar the sale of fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes in places easily accessible to young people. It would also require manufacturers to submit documentation by 2021 showing that flavored products meet public health standards in order to gain the FDA’s approval. “These actions show … an appropriate response to the rapidly escalating youth e-cigarette epidemic,” said Steven Kelder, an epidemiology professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Austin.