SMOKING GUN

FDA Investigates Possible Illegal Marketing of E-Cigarettes

“We will take swift action when companies are skirting the law,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that the agency has sent 21 letters to e-cigarette companies including Vuse Alto and myblu, seeking information about 40 potential new products that may be illegally marketed and in violation of the FDA’s compliance policy. “Companies are on notice—the FDA will not allow the proliferation of e-cigarettes or other tobacco products potentially being marketed illegally and outside of the agency’s compliance policy, and we will take swift action when companies are skirting the law,” wrote FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in a statement. Gottlieb added that “The FDA remains committed to the potential opportunity for e-cigarettes to help adult smokers transition away from combustible cigarettes. But we cannot allow that opportunity to come at the expense of addicting a whole new generation of kids to nicotine.” Notably absent from the list of companies was Juul Labs, one of the largest producers of e-cigarettes. The FDA notes that the agency sought similar information from Juul two weeks ago, when it launched an unannounced raid on the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. Both the letters and the raid are part of the FDA’s wide-ranging effort to curb e-cigarette use in teens, which the agency has labeled an “epidemic.”

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