Today, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, issued the following statement in response to the Department of Justice (DOJ) filing complaints for permanent injunctions against six e-cigarette manufacturers on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“For months, I have demanded answers from the FDA on how the agency is enforcing the law when it comes to e-cigarette manufacturers so they cannot do further harm to our nation’s youth,” said Chairman Krishnamoorthi. “I am encouraged to see today that FDA and DOJ are finally taking these e-cigarette manufacturers to task over their continued refusal to play by the rules. Today’s action demonstrates that the FDA’s premarket review requirements actually have teeth, and e-cigarette manufacturers that violate the law by manufacturing, selling, and distributing their products without authorization will be held responsible. It is my hope that the FDA will take further steps to hold to account e-cigarette manufacturers with significant market share who continue to flout the rules and put the health of our children at risk.”
The six cases against e-cigarette manufacturers in six different states represent the first time the FDA has initiated injunction proceedings to enforce the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act’s premarket review requirements for new tobacco products, according to the FDA. Each of the manufacturers failed to submit premarket applications for their e-cigarette products but have continued to manufacture, sell, and distribute their products illegally, despite warnings from the FDA. The injunctions would require the manufacturers to cease manufacturing, selling, and distributing e-cigarettes and obtain marketing authorization from the FDA before marketing e-cigarette products.
On November 8, 2021, Chairman Krishnamoorthi launched an investigation into the production and sale of unregulated synthetic nicotine. This investigation followed a 2019 Subcommittee investigation into e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL’s role in the youth vaping epidemic, which informed FDA’s decision to ban all JUUL products from the market in June 2022.
Chairman Krishnamoorthi previously wrote to the FDA on March 3, 2021, urging immediate action to remove all flavored e-cigarette products sold by manufacturer Puff Bar from the market.
In April 2021, the Chair expressed support for FDA’s announcement of its plan to ban menthol cigarettes to protect public health and contribute to racial justice.
The FDA issued a warning letter to Puff Bar in July 2021, declaring their products to be on the market illegally.
On February 1, 2022, Chairman Krishnamoorthi called on the newly confirmed Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Robert Califf, to act swiftly to ban all flavored e-cigarettes.
Earlier this month, the Chairman called on the FDA to act more quickly to regulate e-cigarettes after the agency released federal data showing that nearly 2.5 million middle and high school students report using e-cigarettes.
Original source can be found here.
