Majority of EVALI patients vaped THC products, analysis finds

A small analysis of patients hospitalized for EVALI, the lung illness associated with vaping, finds that the vast majority of these individuals reported having vaped THC, the main psychoactive component in marijuana. Researchers evaluated the cases of 156 people hospitalized with EVALI in California in 2019, and found that nearly half were admitted to intensive care units and another 30% required mechanical ventilation. Of 86 patients who were interviewed about the products they used, 83% said they had vaped THC, with nearly half saying they had vaped nicotine-containing products. When the scientists further analyzed 87 products that some of the patients reported using, they found that the majority contained THC, and that nearly half of the THC-containing products also had vitamin E or vitamin E acetate, an additive in vaping products that has been identified as a possible culprit behind EVALI.