What I find disturbing in this article is that speculative fears and propaganda are reported as if they were facts. And some very pertinent and important facts are left out. Facts Left Out: Regarding the court case wending its way thorugh the federal system: At issue is whether e-cigarettes are drug-delivery devices that should be regulated under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FDCA), or whether the FDA should regulate them under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act ("Tobacco Act.) The lower court ruled that FDA should regulate the products of the plaintiffs, who made no smoking cessation or other health claims, under the Tobacco Act, given that they are derived from tobacco. The judge's opinion did leave room for regulating some products under FDCA, if the manufacturer wanted to maket them as smoking cessation products. The judge's opinion was rendered in support of granting an injunction against the FDA seizing plaintiffs' incoming shipments of products. The FDA has appealed the injunction and oral arguments are scheduled to be heard Sept 23 in the Appeals Court. Reporting Propaganda: Meanwhile, FDA's public relations department was put to work to come up with a plan to make the FDA look good and the plaintiffs look bad. The FDA held a press conference in July 2009 where it announced that it had found carcinogens and antifreeze in e-cigarette cartridges. One classic propaganda technique involves telling some, but not all of the truth, with the intention of misleading the audience. In this case, the FDA withheld the fact that the amount of so-called carcinogens it found is no larger than the quantity of the same substances contained in FDA-approved nicotine products such as the patch and gum. Furthermore, the FDA's press announcement concentrated on what was found in the liquid form. Reading the actual lab report posted on the FDA web site, we learn that the FDA found no carcinogenic or toxic substances in the vaporized liquid--the form in which the product is actually consumed. That's like getting alarmed about the rum in fruit-cake batter, when all the alcohol is gone by the time the cake is baked. And, although minute traces of nicotine were found in some cartridges labeled no nicotine, there was no nicotine found in the vapor of any of the cartridges labeled no nicotine. At worst, the FDA testing revealed that some improvements are needed in quality control; however it is hyperbole to characterize them as "significant" considering the fact that FDA testing found nothing harmful in the vapor! When FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey reported short term side effects of using e-cigarettes, again information was left out. The same symptoms can be seen with use of FDA-approved nicotine products as well as tobacco products. She also left out that zero serious adverse events have been reported, and failed to mention that one FDA-approved drug, Chantix, has resulted in numerous serious health problems and some deaths. Unfounded Fears Reported as Fact: Despite Dr. David Egilman rant, there is zero evidence that diacetyl is used as a flavoring agent in e-cigarettes. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids has repeatedly voiced fears that children would be a major target market for the products. Two published surveys have found that 87% of e-cigarette purchasers are older than 30 and 32% are older than 50. These are people who smoked for decades, tried and failed many times to quit, and are looking for an alternative to inhaling smoke. One survey found that 79% of respondents are using e-cigarettes as a complete replacement for smoking traditional cigarettes, and the other reported that 63% of respondents had recently quit smoking. It is important to note that the fact that the vast majority of e-cigarette users no longer smoke does not mean that e-cigarettes are a "smoking cessation" product. To qualify as an FDA-approved smoking cessation product, the treatment goal must be to achieve nicotine abstinence. The purpose of e-cigarettes is to funciton as a substitute for smoking. Substituting a smoke-free tobacco product such as e-cigarettes or low-nitrosamine Swedish snus for inhaling smoke reduces the risk of smoking-related disease by up to 99%., If the FDA were regulate the products of companies that make no health claims under the Tobacco Act, the products would automatically come under Federal law prohibiting sales to minors.
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