Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Decision On Future Of E-Smoking Looms At FDA
Politico: FDA Nears Day Of Reckoning On E-Cigarettes
The Food and Drug Administration is nearing a pivotal deadline for deciding the fate of every e-cigarette on the market — and potentially reshaping the vaping industry. The agency is reviewing millions of applications from e-cigarette makers, and must decide by Sept. 9 whether their products are “appropriate for the protection of public health”: safe for current smokers and not appealing to non-smokers. FDA has already blocked the sale of 55,000 flavor (Foley, 9/7)
Stat: FDA Has Just 3 Days To Decide How To Regulate 6.5 Million E-Cig Products
The Food and Drug Administration has just three days until it must finally decide which e-cigarette brands and products — including Juul — can stay on the market. So far, the agency has only reviewed a small portion of the 6.5 million applications it has received — making it seem highly unlikely that the FDA will be able to cross this particular finish line. The FDA also hasn’t given the judge who set the Sept. 9 deadline any indication that it’s about to miss it, despite the fact that e-cigarette makers, and even another federal agency, have been begging the FDA for extensions. (Florko, 9/7)
In other news related to smoking —
Stat: Study: Never-Smokers' Lung Cancers Genetically Differ From Smokers' Tumors
Researchers have identified unique genetic signatures of lung cancer in people who never smoked cigarettes, using whole genome sequencing to analyze tumors from this under-studied population. The new study, published Monday in Nature Genetics, more than doubles the number of sequenced lung tumors from never-smokers and helps point the way toward developing personalized treatments distinct from those used for smokers’ cancers, the authors said. (Gaffney, 9/6)
CNN: Cannabis Consumers Under Age 45 Are Nearly Twice As Likely To Have A Heart Attack Compared To Non-Cannabis Users
Whether you smoke it, vape it or eat it as an edible, cannabis may be significantly increasing your risk of a heart attack. Adults under 45 years old who consumed cannabis within the last 30 days, suffered from nearly double the number of heart attacks than adults who didn't use the drug, according to research published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. (Marples, 9/7)
