The Senate health committee held a bipartisan hearing on the outbreak of lung injuries linked to the use of electronic cigarettes and what federal agencies are doing to prevent youth use of these products on Wednesday.
In his opening remarks at the hearing, which featured witnesses from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander asked “why aren’t there any rules in effect about what standards e-cigarettes and vaping products need to meet?”
Senator Alexander continued his line of questions: “What should the FDA be doing to regulate and review these products? There has been a 700 percent increase in the number of teenagers vaping since 2013—what has FDA and CDC done about this surge of teenagers vaping? And how much of the $5.5 billion that the Center for Tobacco Products at FDA has received in user fees over the last decade has been spent on e-cigarettes and vaping?”
Senator Alexander concluded: “Here is the reality: 13.5 million Americans, including more than five million teenagers, have reported using e-cigarettes, with 1.6 million teenagers vaping regularly, and these products have not met any FDA rules or standards.
And over the last seven months, over 2,000 Americans have gotten sick and 39 have died from lung illness related to vaping. This is an unacceptable situation that demands our attention.”
Read Chairman Alexander’s prepared opening statement
here.