FDA Is Ready to Restrict E-Cigarettes Based on Data We're Not Allowed to See
When Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb threatened to crack down on vaping products last month in response to "an epidemic of e-cigarette use among teenagers," he alluded to "preliminary data" showing that "youth use of e-cigs is rising very sharply." Although we still have not seen those numbers, that has not stopped Gottlieb from making policy decisions based on them, including changes that could limit the appeal and availability of products he concedes have enormous potential to reduce the harm caused by smoking.
"From 2017 to 2018, according to new preliminary data from the National Youth tobacco Survey, the number of high-school-age children reporting use of e-cigarettes rose by more than 75 percent," Gottlieb and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said in an October 12 Washington Post op-ed piece. They linked not to the NYTS results, which have not been released yet by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but to a September 12 Post story that said, based on information from unnamed officials, "The latest data, not yet published, show a 75 percent increase in e-cigarette use among high school students this year, compared with 2017." In other words, Gottlieb backed up his claim about unpublished survey data by citing a leak to the Post that probably came from him or someone he authorized......
When Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb threatened to crack down on vaping products last month in response to "an epidemic of e-cigarette use among teenagers," he alluded to "preliminary data" showing that "youth use of e-cigs is rising very sharply." Although we still have not seen those numbers, that has not stopped Gottlieb from making policy decisions based on them, including changes that could limit the appeal and availability of products he concedes have enormous potential to reduce the harm caused by smoking.
"From 2017 to 2018, according to new preliminary data from the National Youth tobacco Survey, the number of high-school-age children reporting use of e-cigarettes rose by more than 75 percent," Gottlieb and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said in an October 12 Washington Post op-ed piece. They linked not to the NYTS results, which have not been released yet by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but to a September 12 Post story that said, based on information from unnamed officials, "The latest data, not yet published, show a 75 percent increase in e-cigarette use among high school students this year, compared with 2017." In other words, Gottlieb backed up his claim about unpublished survey data by citing a leak to the Post that probably came from him or someone he authorized......