Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its first denials of flavored electronic cigarettes after the agency determined the manufacturer’s products pose a greater risk to public health than any potential benefit. The denial, issued late Thursday, comes ahead of a court-ordered deadline of September 9th for the FDA to determine whether new tobacco products, including most e-cigarettes, can be sold in the U.S.
A statement from Keysha Brooks-Coley, vice president of federal advocacy at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows:
“The FDA’s decision to deny more than 55,000 flavored e-cigarette products from being sold on the market is an important first step toward effectively addressing the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use in this country. The tobacco industry has long used flavors to hook kids and e-cigarette manufacturers have taken that strategy even further with their unregulated products. All flavors are a threat to public health, including menthol. Menthol has been used by the tobacco industry to target specific populations, in particular the Black community, for addiction and premature death. All menthol flavored products should be denied marketing orders.
“FDA’s decision to deny authorization of sale of these first products indicates the agency is putting kids’ health above the interest of an industry built on luring people into a lifetime of addiction. FDA should quickly enforce the removal of any of these products that are currently being sold on the market.
“We strongly urge the FDA to continue this approach for all flavored products, including menthol, and to enforce their decisions swiftly.”