American Lung Association - Not On Board

[StormFinch]

the guy who did the Virginia study also worked on a project for plowshare (provides products for the tobacco industry) :
quote from:

Declared and Non Declared Conflicts of Interest. The case of Thomas EISSENBERG, Wasim MAZIAK, Jack HENNINGFIELD

Dr Thomas EISSENBERG is author or co-author of a certain number of studies (5 at least published in Nicotine and tobacco Research)
[*] in which he has made use of a smoking topography system called CReSS [Clinical Research Support System]. He has personally contributed to its development, through direct funding (2000 to 2002) from PLOWSHARE Technologies, Inc. Plowshare Technologies :: The Smoking Topography Experts , an industrial firm strongly linked to the Tobacco Industry. PLOWSHARE has recently been acquired by BORGWALDT (13 Nov. 2007), a company which sells, on a large scale, flavours and other products to the Tobacco Industry. One of PLOWSHARE's more famous customers was, at least in 2002, Philip MORRIS.

who did the FDA study?

According to actual FDA report, it was done by their Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/ScienceResearch/UCM173250.pdf

As for the next email; If it were me, I would be sending all of those points you posted back to whomever you opened a discourse with at the ALA, along with New Zealand's last report. I doubt hitting them with cold hard facts would do a darn bit of good, but I don't think it could hurt, and if doubt can be raised with just one person in their network, it might start a chain reaction.

 

[Vocalek]

I wouldn't accuse Dr. Eissenberg of being on the payroll of big tobacco as my rebuttal. Dr. Eissenberg has already conceded that the results he saw may well have been caused by the limited number of puffs specified for the study. Study subjects were told to take 10 puffs from the assigned product (tobacco cigarette or e-cigarette). Dr. E was unaware at the time of the Health New Zealand research showing that smoke delivers 10 times the nicotine of vapor.

Frankly, I don't follow why the ALA thinks that "users aren't getting nicotine" (even if that were true) consitututes proof that e-cigarettes are unsafe. It actually goes to show that the odds of nicotine overdose from inhaling vapor are much, much smaller than from inhaling smoke!

 

[Katmar]

I wouldn't accuse Dr. Eissenberg of being on the payroll of big tobacco as my rebuttal. Dr. Eissenberg has already conceded that the results he saw may well have been caused by the limited number of puffs specified for the study. Study subjects were told to take 10 puffs from the assigned product (tobacco cigarette or e-cigarette). Dr. E was unaware at the time of the Health New Zealand research showing that smoke delivers 10 times the nicotine of vapor.

Frankly, I don't follow why the ALA thinks that "users aren't getting nicotine" (even if that were true) consitututes proof that e-cigarettes are unsafe. It actually goes to show that the odds of nicotine overdose from inhaling vapor are much, much smaller than from inhaling smoke!

Or even from using NRTs!!!!!!!!!

 

[Rosa]

Or even from using NRTs!!!!!!!!!

I used the patch a few times (unsuccessfully) and I had to keep the packaging around to reassure myself that they really DO contain nicotine because I sure wasn't feeling it. If a study came out today to show that nicotine cannot be absorbed transdermally (or that the patch was 0mg) I would not be shocked at all.

 

[OnMyWay]

If I'm not getting nicotine from my vaping, then my ecig must be one heck of a placebo. Seriously, if I could just inhale water and feel as good as I do vaping then I'd do it because frankly it would be much cheaper.

Unfortunately the biggies don't want to get on board until the FDA does. The government won't get on board until they can tax the sales. When Phillip Morris starts making ecigs and juice I think they all will be singing a different tune. How sad.

 

[Vocalek]

If I'm not getting nicotine from my vaping, then my ecig must be one heck of a placebo. Seriously, if I could just inhale water and feel as good as I do vaping then I'd do it because frankly it would be much cheaper.

Unfortunately the biggies don't want to get on board until the FDA does. The government won't get on board until they can tax the sales. When Phillip Morris starts making ecigs and juice I think they all will be singing a different tune. How sad.

The biggies are trying to make you believe "The FDA made me do it." The opposite is true. The biggies made the FDA do it. The chronology goes like this:

In March, 2009, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids issued a joint press release, urging the FDA to remove electronic cigarettes from the market. “While the FDA currently does not have jurisdiction over tobacco products, it does have jurisdiction over other products that contain nicotine including e-cigarettes, which have been marketed as delivering nicotine without tobacco.” http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-24-2009/0004993931&EDATE=

In response, FDA began seizing incoming shipments of electronic cigarettes.

Smoking Everywhere (SE) filed suit, claiming their product is a tobacco product that FDA has no authority to regulate. NJOY subsequently joined in on the side of SE.

On June 22, 2009, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control was signed into law. This legislation granted the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products. The Honorable Justice, Richard J. Leon, who is assigned this case in Federal District Court in Washington D.C. requested a rehearing and further briefing from the parties after the enactment of this litigation.

After the rehearing, Judge Leon decided that the products are not intended to function as a treatment and more closely resemble a tobacco product. He granted the injunction sought by SE and NJOY in January 2010, ordering the FDA to stop seizing the products of those two companies. Shortly thereafter, FDA filed for a stay of the injunction. The appeals court granted the stay, pending a hearing in the appeals court on the injunction. It is anticipated that this hearing will take place in Sept. 2010.

The case itself may be years away from being heard in the courts.

My personal opinion is that the main reason FDA is so stubbornly clinging to the "it's a drug-delivery device" position is because of the pressure being brought to bear on it by "the biggies" who issued the joint press release described in my 2nd paragraph above.

 

[OnMyWay]

^^^ Thanks for the information. I did not realize that it happened like that.

 

[Vocalek]

Sorry, I left something out of the chronology above. On July 22, 2009 (a month to the day after the Tobacco bill was signed into law) FDA held a press conference to announce the results of testing that it had performed back in March of 2009. We all find it odd that of the hundreds of companies marketing electronic cigarettes, the only two companies that had products tested were the two suing FDA.

We also find it odd that FDA "forgot" to report the quantities of "carcinogens" found, failed to mention that these quantities are no larger than found in FDA nicotine patches, failed to mention that a pack of Marlboros contains 1,375 times more of these carcinogins, and mistakenly reported that DEG is an ingredient in antifreeze, when DEG has not been used in antifreeze for years but IS used as a humectant to keep tobacco moist.

Honest mistakes? Or a decietful spin job? You be the judge.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Vocalek wrote:

"In March, 2009, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids issued a joint press release, urging the FDA to remove electronic cigarettes from the market."
and
"In response, FDA began seizing incoming shipments of electronic cigarettes."

Actually, the FDA began blocking/seizing shipments in late 2008 (while Bush was still president).

"My personal opinion is that the main reason FDA is so stubbornly clinging to the "it's a drug-delivery device" position is because of the pressure being brought to bear on it by "the biggies" who issued the joint press release described in my 2nd paragraph above."

While that's one reason, I think a far more impactful reason (that the FDA is digging in its heels and fighting the SE lawsuit) is because Josh Sharfstein (who worked as Henry Waxman's staffer from 2005-2007 advocating the FDA tobacco legislation, and who was appointed in early 2009 by Obama to be Deputy Commissioner of FDA) has adamantly opposed tobacco harm reduction products and policies since at least 2005 (when I first began corresponding with him).

Sharfstein heads up the FDA's drug office, and organized and ran the July 22, 2009 press conference trashing e-cigarettes and misrepresenting the FDA's own lab findings.

 

[Vocalek]

I wrote a response to the canned letter I received from Connor (many of you received the same letter word-for-word, but supposedly written by whoever you addressed your letter to.) I posted the response to my blog. The Truth About Nicotine: Lung Association Recommends Smoking

You can share this blog entry via Twitter or to your Facebook page. The more people who read the facts the better.

 

[v1John]

The ALA in New York (www.alany.org) urges New York to ban electronic cigarettes.

Excerpt from their [ALA of New York] pdf letter;
source link/ complete pdf file link: http://www.lungusa.org/associations/states/new-york/publicpolicy/assets/memo9529.pdf

We agree with the initial FDA determination that these products should be regulated as drug[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐[/FONT][/FONT]delivery devices and as such, should not be sold until the FDA has determined their safety and efficacy. The Lung Association has called for the removal of all e[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐[/FONT][/FONT]cigarettes from the marketplace until they have been determined to be safe.
For these reasons, the American Lung Association in New York, supports this legislation and urges its enactment.

People, one thing I noticed is that our awareness petition at epetitions is not addressed to the ALA in New York!

New York needs help NOW! Why can't we print/sign/mail the 3-page petition and send it to the ALA of New York NOW ? I know the people mailing them are sending it to the CEO, but shouldn't we send a NY-specific petition to the ALA of NY?

Their address is in ALBANY, NY, not in Washington. (Please click on the full pdf page link at the top of this excerpt, I think their address and phone is at the bottom.)


---------------------------
edit- add update

Actually there are quite a few in New York,
Please browse through the various states, and you can also find their contact information here:

Associations - American Lung Association

I really think we need to mail the 3 page petition to the entire board of directors too, and definitely to all the ALA associations of New York.

 

[HKholer]

I do NOT understand how these people can lie like this. And why lie? THis is just so frustrating on so many levels.

Kristin or Elaine: Could one of you do a real press release about this particular piece of garbage, taking each false statement and showing the lie. I am too po'd to think straight and both of you are better with words than am I. Name it something serious like "American Lung Association Lying to the Public" CASAA Documents American Lung Association Lies!"

I wish I were better at writing. If I were doing this I would DARE them to sue me for defamation.

Rant off...sorry...

 

[v1John]

I do NOT understand how these people can lie like this. And why lie? THis is just so frustrating on so many levels.

Kristin or Elaine: Could one of you do a real press release about this particular piece of garbage, taking each false statement and showing the lie. I am too po'd to think straight and both of you are better with words than am I. Name it something serious like "American Lung Association Lying to the Public" CASAA Documents American Lung Association Lies!"

I wish I were better at writing. If I were doing this I would DARE them to sue me for defamation.

Rant off...sorry...

bump
especially for vaper-freindly New Yorkers