The ruling handed down Wednesday in district court states that the
agency shirked its legal duty when it postponed reviewing all U.S.
vaping products by several years.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, Rincoe mechman kit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other groups filed the federal
lawsuit in Maryland last year. The groups say the lack of FDA oversight
has led to an explosion in underage vaping by teenagers, threatening to
hook a generation of Americans on nicotine.
"It is now the FDA's responsibility to take immediate action to protect
our kids and require manufacturers to apply to the FDA if they want to
keep their products on the market," the groups said in a statement.
E-cigarettes are nicotine-emitting devices that have grown into a
multibillion-dollar industry in the U.S. despite little research on
their long-term health effects, including whether they are useful in
helping smokers quit cigarettes.
The FDA gained authority to regulate the products in 2016, but it has
allowed thousands of products to remain on the market without formal
rules or product standards. The agency says that both FDA staff and
manufacturers need more time to prepare for regulation.
The public health groups have warned that the lack of oversight could
undo decades of anti-tobacco efforts as young people migrate toward
newer vaping products.U.S. Judge Paul Grimm agreed, calling the FDA's
delay "so extreme as to amount to an abdication of its statutory
responsibilities."
An FDA spokesman could not immediately provide comment Wednesday
evening. The agency will have the option of appealing the
decision.Gregory Conley of the American Vaping Association said the
government "must appeal this ruling" to "protect adult access to less
harmful alternatives to cigarettes."u2022eney7485yyWEEEEDD
