NEW YORK, NY — June 23, 2022 –The American Thoracic Society applauds the FDA’s decision to remove Juul products from the U.S. marketplace. This decision is long overdue.
“Juul is one of the most popular e-cigarette products among middle and high school kids,” said Hasmeena Kathuria, MD, chair of the ATS Tobacco Action Committee. “Their flavored products are particularly enticing to this group, who are at risk of becoming lifelong nicotine users. Removing Juul products, even temporarily, will make a small but important dent in sales to this vulnerable group.”
The FDA’s decision was based largely on a technical dispute over safety data, rather than on Juul’s appeal among kids. Neither was the agency’s decision based on Juul’s highly addictive levels of nicotine salts in its products, and on likely adverse health effects of long-term e-cigarette use.
It is important to note that the FDA has permitted other e-cigarette products to remain on the market, so today’s decision is not a precedent-setting decision on e-cigarettes.
The ATS fully expects Juul to resubmit a revised premarket tobacco product application to address the data disputes in Juul’s original application or submit a new product application for a revised product that addresses the issues the FDA identified.
Unfortunately, the U.S. has not yet seen the last of Juul e-cigarette products.
“The ATS will continue to advocate for stronger regulations to protect children from vaping-related injuries from Juul products and other e-cigarette manufacturers,” added Dr. Kathuria.
