House subcommittee issues subpoena warning to Juul

Turn over the requested marketing documents or be subpoenaed — that’s the warning that a House Oversight and Reform subcommittee issued to e-cigarette maker Juul yesterday. The subcommittee on economic and consumer policy requested documents related to the company’s marketing tactics — including funding for campaigns against teen vaping — back in June, and iterated these requests at a July hearing with Juul executives. Yesterday’s warning letter claimed Juul had only produced a small portion of the documents, despite receiving several requests over the past three months. The subcommittee issued a deadline of Oct. 1 to produce all the documents or risk legal action.

The increased scrutiny of Juul and other e-cigarette manufacturers comes as more vaping-related illnesses are being reported: Canada is now investigating its first such case. Also this week, Michigan and New York became the first states to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.