The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday ordered a ban on the selling of e-cigarettes manufactured by Juul Labs Inc. due to its significant role in the increase of teen vaping.
The sales prohibition was finally implemented after almost two years of back and forth between the regulator and the San Francisco-based company, according to a CBS News report.
Juul sought authorization for its tobacco and menthol-flavored products to stay in the market. However, according to Michele Mital, acting director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, the company's application left the agency with "significant questions" and failed to provide sufficient data that meet the "standards set by the law."
"Without the data needed to determine relevant health risks, the FDA is issuing these marketing denial orders," Mital noted.
The FDA's decision is an aspect of thoroughly examining the vaping market. Since vaping devices became more and more popular among teenagers, the agency has been pressured by lawmakers and public health advocates to reinforce its regulation of such products.
Millions of Teenagers in the US Are Vaping
E-cigarettes, which are marketed as a substitute for smokers trying to quit, have assisted some adults in doing that. However, the devices have also fostered the teenage vaping outbreak in the country, as per a report from AP.
According to research conducted by the FDA and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, more than 2 million middle and high school students in the United States reported smoking e-cigarettes in 2021.
Some e-cigarette applications were approved by the agency. Since last fall, R.J. Reynolds' tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes have received government approval. Companies like Reynolds, Logic, and others.
However, industry players and anti-tobacco activists have argued that those products only constitute a small portion of the $6 billion US vaping market.
Regulators frequently put off making decisions about products from market leaders, such as Juul, which continues to be the most preferred vaping brand despite declining sales.
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Cigarette Control Experts Say FDA Made a Wrong Move
Some cigarette control experts believe FDA's decision to withdraw Juul from the U.S. market could be inefficient.
Many experts today view Juul and other e-cigarettes as means for aiding adult smokers in quitting traditional cigarettes, according to Clifford Douglas, director of the Tobacco Research Network at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
He explained e-cigarettes serve as smokers' "alternative to combustibles," which is the cause of "every death related to tobacco."
"But now that off-ramp is being narrowed and sort of paved over, which is putting millions of adult lives at stake," Douglas said.
Companies were permitted to continue selling some devices while waiting for a ruling from the FDA, which has been studying several types of vaping products still in development for more than a year.
The agency recently reported that it has turned down more than a million applications for products whose health benefits outweighed their risks, per The New York Times.
The FDA found a "significant reduction" in dangerous chemicals in the devices compared to regular cigarettes, while some were still detected.
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