Statement from Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless, M.D., on the agency’s actions to tackle the epidemic of youth vaping and court ruling on application submission deadlines for certain tobacco products, including e-cigarettes

Statement from Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless, M.D., on the agency’s actions to tackle the epidemic of youth vaping and court ruling on application submission deadlines for certain tobacco products, including e-cigarettes

Late last week, a U.S. District Court judge in Maryland issued a decision that, among other things, requires makers and importers of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and certain other tobacco products like cigars, pipe tobacco and hookah to submit applications for their currently marketed products to the agency within 10 months. This court decision comes at a time when I, like many others, are tremendously concerned about the rising use of e-cigarettes among our nation’s youth and especially the potential for them to become traditional cigarette smokers. We cannot allow the next generation of young people to become addicted to nicotine because of e-cigarettes. I am all too aware of the staggering toll inflicted on the public health by tobacco products. As someone who has dedicated my life to reducing the public health burden and suffering caused by cancer, the importance of preventing youth addiction to nicotine rings especially true to me.

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