US considering ban on flavored vaping products after loss of six lives

Authorities "may well have to do something strong about it," the president told reporters at the White House, where he was accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and acting Food and Drug Administration head Norman Sharpless.

By AFP
September 11, 2019

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his administration was considering a ban on flavored vaping products, amid a growing outbreak of severe lung disease linked to e-cigarette use that has claimed six lives.

Authorities "may well have to do something strong about it," the president told reporters at the White House, where he was accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and acting Food and Drug Administration head Norman Sharpless.

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Trump added that First Lady Melania Trump had been involved in the discussions because: "She´s got a son ... she feels very strongly about it."

In addition to six deaths, more than 450 people who reported vaping either nicotine, cannabis products or both have fallen ill in recent months, with symptoms including breathing difficulty and chest pain before some were hospitalized and placed on ventilators.

Several teens across the country have been placed in medically induced comas including one whose doctors said he may require a lung transplant if he recovers.

E-cigarettes are available in the US since 2006 and are sometimes used as an aid to quit smoking traditional tobacco products like cigarettes, but are also hugely popular among adolescents, whom makers have targeted with fruit and candy flavorings.

Some 3.6 million middle and high school students used vaping products in 2018, an increase of 1.5 million in the year before.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged people to cease vaping while the investigation is underway.

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