A vaping company has been blocked from selling e-cigarettes in the United States after it was found to have played a “disproportionate role in the rise of young cigarettes.”
The decision was made by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after Juul Labs Inc provided scientific and health data on its nicotine products for review.
Data collected over almost two years show a “lack of sufficient evidence” that Juul’s products provide a net benefit to public health.
FDA Commissioner Robert Calif said in a statement: “We recognize that they make up a significant proportion of the products available and many of them have played a disproportionate role in the growth of young vaping.
The decision was declared a potentially fatal blow to the San Francisco-based company.
The use of e-cigarettes by teenagers accelerated when Juul began to gain popularity in 2017 and 2018, a federal study in the United States found.
About 27.5% of high school students used wakes in 2019, compared to 11.7% in 2017.
However, their number dropped to 11.3% in 2021, according to a study conducted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.
But the latest data on e-cigarette use among young people cannot be compared to earlier years due to changes in the way the study was conducted during the COVID pandemic, researchers said.
Juul, along with other e-cigarette brands – including Blu, owned by Imperial Brands Plc, and Vuse of British American Tobacco Plc – received a September 2020 deadline to apply to the FDA.
The health agency then had to assess whether each product encouraged smokers to quit.
The extent to which the product has helped people quit has been weighed against the potential harm to the health of new e-cigarette users who have never smoked – including teenagers.
Read more: Employees harassed or fired for vaping at work, study finds Cardiologists warn that vaping is so dangerous and addictive that it should be banned
Image: Vaping devices, including one manufactured by Juul, pictured in the center Photo: AP
Juul has not yet responded to requests for comment, but US reports suggest he is likely to appeal the decision.
E-cigarette manufacturers have been selling products in the United States for years without official permission from the FDA.
The FDA has banned all fragrances, except tobacco and menthol, for cartridge-based e-cigarettes, including those manufactured by Juul, in 2020.
Juul withdrew all other flavors, including mint and mango, after tightening regulations and protests by anti-smoking fighters.
The FDA’s decision led to a drop in shares of Altria Group, which has a 35% stake in Juul, by 9%.
This comes when the administration of President Joe Biden promised to find alternatives to help people quit smoking to reduce preventable cancer deaths.
The White House this week unveiled proposals for a rule for maximum nicotine levels in cigarettes and other tobacco products to make them less addictive.
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