Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Court Allows Juul To Stay On Shelves — For Now
Stat: Court Rules Juul Can Still Sell E-Cigs While It Prepares Challenge To FDA Ban
Juul’s e-cigarettes won’t be pulled off the shelves just yet. A federal court ruled late Friday that the company’s vaping products can stay on the market while the company prepares its full legal challenge to this week’s Food and Drug Administration ban. The move is the latest in a whirlwind 24 hours for the vaping company, which was ordered to shut down all U.S. sales Thursday afternoon. The company sued the FDA over that decision Thursday evening. The company is also now considering bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. It remains unclear how long Juul will be able to stay on the market pursuant to the judge’s order, though it appears the company will gain at least another two weeks. (Florko, 6/24)
Wired: Juul Survives A Blow From The FDA—For Now
The FDA's denial and the subsequent stay are just the latest developments in a years-long battle between regulators and Juul. Back in 2018, the FDA launched an investigation into sales of Juul products to underage consumers, requested marketing materials from the company, and demanded that the company submit a plan for thwarting sales to teens. The following year, the FDA sent a warning letter to Juul over its claims that vapes were less harmful than traditional cigarettes. At some point, fruity-flavored e-cigarette pods were banned in the US. The latest ban, if it ever goes into effect, would apply to the Juul device itself, a sleek vaping pen, and to four specific liquid cartridges, all of which are tobacco-flavored or menthol-flavored—those that mimic the flavors of traditional cigarettes. The denial from the FDA came just a couple days after the agency said it would also limit the amount of nicotine allowed in real cigarettes sold in the US. (Ashworth and Goode, 6/25 )
The Guardian: US Bans Juul But Young Vapers Are Already Switching To Newer Products
Adolescents often switch from product to product, creating a Whac-a-Mole prevention strategy, says Monica M Zorilla, a researcher at Stanford. When the FDA prioritized enforcement against flavored e-cigarette devices like Juul in 2020, it exempted disposable e-cigarettes and menthol-flavored e-cigarette products, says Zorilla. A Stanford study found that adolescents then moved to those e-cigarettes that were exempt. “Youth went from pod-based [like Juul] to disposables like Puff Bar,” Zorilla says. “As a youth said to me, ‘anything with fruit’ is popular among their peers. This was in part due to the enforcement and in part because the disposables continued to have many flavors.” (Gammon, 6/26)
The New York Times: Juul Users Prepare To Say Goodbye To Their Vape Of Choice
After roughly 25 years of cigarette smoking, Tim Marchman wanted to quit. And yet he didn’t want to become what he calls “a vape guy,” the kind of person who spends hours in specialty shops choosing from dozens of electronic nicotine delivery devices, many of them quite elaborate. So he settled on what struck him as the simplest option, Juul, a brand that for a time was practically synonymous with vaping. “Juul is the default,” Mr. Marchman, an editor at the Vice Media tech and science site Motherboard, said in an interview. “It’s just plug and play.” Unlike some other e-cigarette brands, Juul was also widely available. “In gas stations in the middle of nowhere, they have it,” Mr. Marchman said. (Kurutz, 6/24)
