Vaping Illness: A New Name and Expanded Clinical Guidance "EVALI" cases will become increasingly mix

[iVapeDIY]

As noted, the new guidelines (not rules, guidelines, like "we think you should but we can't make you") call for THC drug screening in all cases. Without that piece of data, that 13% can only be taken at their word. If routine screening is done, we can now see if that number changes./QUOTE]

Sodium benzoate and benzoic acid are benzoates; both are used as preservatives with the latter (benzoic acid) having more potent adverse inflammatory reactions when inhaled.

• Benzoates - Wikipedia
• Sodium benzoate - Wikipedia
• Benzoic acid - Wikipedia
• Benzoic acid

The Dangers of Juuling | National Center for Health Research

In addition to this patented formula, juul pods contain a greater amount of benzoic acid, 44.8 mg/mL, compared to other e-cigarette brands, which are in the range of 0.2 to 2 mg/mL. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), benzoic acid is known to cause coughs, sore throat, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting if exposure is constant, which is the case when using a juul.​

https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/pprtv/documents/BenzoicAcid.pdf

Some individuals may show greater sensitivity to benzoic acid or sodium benzoate exposure. Cases of urticaria, asthma, rhinitis or anaphylactic shock have been reported after oral, dermal, or inhalation exposure to these compounds (WHO, 2000).​

Benzoic acid1)2) and alkali benzoates2) [MAK Value Documentation, 2017]
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Benzoic acid is strongly irritating to the eyes and causes irreversible damage to the cornea in some cases, whereas it is only mildly irritating to the skin. Sodium benzoate is, at most, slightly irritating to the eyes, and not irritating to the skin. Benzoic acid and its salts can induce immediate, non‐immunological erythematous or urticarial reactions. Urticarial swelling occurs usually within 15 to 30 minutes after the exposure, and subsides as a rule after 2 to 3 hours. After oral administration of a total of 35 g within 20 days, benzoic acid caused symptoms such as nausea, headaches, weakness, burning and irritation in the oesophagus and digestive disorders in volunteers. Among other effects, reduced body weight gains, increased liver and kidney weights, ataxia, tremor, excitation, aggressive behaviour, convulsions and mortality were observed in rats after repeated oral administration of benzoic acid or sodium benzoate doses of more than 2000 mg/kg body weight and day. Histopathological changes were diagnosed in the brain, the liver and the kidneys. In a 4‐week inhalation study with rats, benzoic acid caused interstitial inflammation of the lungs with subsequent fibrosis at concentrations of 25 mg/m3 and above. ​

If you are one of the 25 million asthmatics in the US (or is allergic to benzoates) chances are you'll become one of the (nicotine-only) EVALI or VAPI statistics.

 

[CarolT]

As noted, the new guidelines (not rules, guidelines, like "we think you should but we can't make you") call for THC drug screening in all cases. Without that piece of data, that 13% can only be taken at their word. If routine screening is done, we can now see if that number changes.

It says, "In all patients, providers should consider conducting, with informed consent, urine toxicology testing, including testing for THC." That's not authoritatively calling for THC urinary screens. It's way too wishy-washy, and implies that they don't really want it done. And that 13% cannot be taken at their word. Not when such a large proportion of supposed non-THC users later admit that they did use it, and also that many of them may truly not know what was in what they vaped.

 

[AvaOrchid]

Claiming that "13% of EVALI has been in exclusive tobacco [sic] vapers" is automatically a Big Lie. As Michael Siegel points out:

"The CDC has been insisting that a small proportion of cases have occurred among patients who did not use THC. The truth is that they have no way of knowing that. Unless the patients have been tested for THC, it simply cannot be said that cases have occurred among patients who only used nicotine-containing e-liquids. This is why I believe it is so irresponsible that the CDC has repeatedly given the impression that it knows that a substantial proportion of cases do not involve THC. They actually have no way of verifying their contention that "no single product" ties together all the cases. It is entirely possible that a single product - marijuana and counterfeit vapes - does tie together all the cases."

The Rest of the Story: Tobacco and Alcohol News Analysis and Commentary: CDC's Failure to Demand Urine THC Testing of All Outbreak Patients is Inexcusable and is Putting the Entire Nation at Risk

I would argue that even in cases where they do test which should be the minimum clinical responsibility 4 THC nobody knows from the trigger to the illness presenting itself how long that's going to take. If I go out to my local drug dealer and purchase THC carts Vape them today and get sick in 3 months because my immune system works relatively well cuz I quit smoking, then there's no way of determining that part of the problem was thc even if they were actually trying to determine anything. I don't know how in the world the FDA or the CDC comes to the conclusion that a bunch of kids likely with their parents in the room would never lie. Or even a bunch of adults who have careers sure your medical information is supposed to be kept private but we all know that there's been weak some people can lose jobs over stuff like that not to mention if you have children DCF can take your kids are using THC even in states where it's legal. And when people say that people on their deathbed don't lie about things that could potentially help them I would counter that with young people believe they're going to live forever it's just a natural state of human evolvement and therefore they are going to consider the effects of admitting to marijuana use to be more negative than the potential for death because the effects of the punishments and could happen are more real to them than the concept that they could be dying especially if it's a relatively quick progression. Conversely another theory is that perhaps the same people who are selling THC carts on the black market are also selling some nicotine ones because underage kids sometimes can't get access to nicotine and therefore something in the manufacturing process of the street dealers or whatever is causing uniform issues they just sell a lot less nicotine because in general people can access easier. I already refused to tell any doctor that I Vape because anytime I sniffle sneeze or cough they're going to be signing me up for some disease so it's just another reason to lie to your medical care provider in the United States. I bet you anything every flu-related illness and anyone that has even seen a vape device is going to be counted.

 

[puffon]

Wonder if some of these kids are refiling their Juul pods with their homemade THC oil?
Traces of nicotine and THC would show up in the testing.

 

[iVapeDIY]

An 18-Year-Old Died After Becoming Addicted To Vaping. Now His Mom Is Going After Juul.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...-vaping-death-wrongful-death-lawsuit-nicotine

The night 18-year-old Daniel Wakefield died of breathing complications, he wasn't wheezing or showing any other signs it was hard to breathe, his mother said.

He was spending the night at his dad's house. She talked to him on the phone around 7 p.m. He texted before going to sleep, and hours later, around 4 a.m., his father found him dead on the couch while getting up for a glass of water.

The teen's death left the family distraught and questioning how a seemingly healthy kid could suddenly die. Wakefield had asthma, but it wasn't something he'd struggled with since he was a young child. He'd been active up until his death.

Wakefield died Aug. 31, 2018, and unlike more recent deaths, he didn't appear sick before his death. A medical examiner attributed his death to natural causes and noted the teen had asthma.

But asthma hadn't troubled him since he was a young child, attorneys for his family said, and he was an active teen who liked to skateboard and ride BMX bikes. Around the time he was 15, he started vaping Juul, and he quickly became addicted.

By the time Wakefield was 16, he was hospitalized because of breathing and lung complications. He was so addicted to Juul at that point that hospital staff applied nicotine patches during his stay to prevent withdrawal, the complaint said.​

 

[iVapeDIY]

I bet you anything every flu-related illness and anyone that has even seen a vape device is going to be counted.

Already an issue ...

Flu season threatens to complicate diagnoses of vaping-related illness

Public health experts are cautioning that the coming flu season could complicate attempts to diagnose new cases of a mysterious vaping-related illness — and, in turn, make it more difficult to track down the cause.

The issue, experts say, is that flu and other respiratory viruses can, in many ways, look strikingly similar to a case of vaping-related illness: Symptoms include shortness of breath, night sweats, low oxygen levels, and hazy spots on a lung X-ray.

“It’s going to be difficult to tease apart a bad flu case and a vaping case,” said Dr. Sean Callahan, a University of Utah Health pulmonologist who has treated several cases of vaping-related illness.​