Top Obama officials stopped FDA’s previous attempt to ban flavors for e-cigarettes

A new Los Angeles Times investigation has found that the FDA began working toward a ban on flavorings for e-cigarettes four years ago, but that senior Obama administration officials put a stop to the plan following meetings with lobbyists. The Times reviewed memos and presentations from lobbyists and found that the FDA, in October 2015, had sent to the White House the draft of a new tobacco rule, which included a ban on flavored vaping products. Even then, the federal agency had surveyed many young people and learned that these flavorings were a main reason they liked to vape. White House officials met with more than 100 tobacco industry and small business advocates over the next 46 days, and when the final rule was published in May 2016, it didn’t include the proposed ban on flavors.