The New York Times reports Stanton A. Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, commented on a study that he led that was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. He said the study suggests that for smokers who switch to e-cigarettes, “it’s almost the same as continuing to smoke. You have the residual risk of being a smoker compounded by the risk of being an e-cigarette user. The way to get rid of the risk is to stop.” The Daily Mail (UK) reports Glantz said, “The only way to substantially reduce the risk of a heart attack is to stop using tobacco” and e-cigarettes.
AFP-Relaxnews reports the study “found that daily e-cigarette use can nearly double the risk of a heart attack compared to those who have never used e-cigs, with the risk even higher for those who also continue to smoke conventional tobacco cigarettes.” The study was based on “data from 69,452 participants who were interviewed about their e-cigarette and tobacco cigarette use, and whether they had ever been told by a health professional that they had had a heart attack.”
Science Blog also reports on the study.
FDA-warned companies have stopped using kid-friendly e-cigarette packaging. Reuters reports the FDA said Thursday that all 17 companies it warned in May have stopped marketing e-cigarette liquids in packaging appealing to children, such as juice boxes or candy. The warning was part of the agency’s “sweeping actions taken to prevent sales of tobacco products to kids.” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is quoted saying, “Even as we encourage the innovation of novel and potentially less harmful products such as e-cigarettes for currently addicted adult smokers, we’re committed to holding industry accountable to ensure these products aren’t being marketed to, sold to, or used by kids.”
The New York Times reports the FDA says it expects “some of the liquids would still be sold under revised labeling and advertising.”
CDC study flags e-cigarettes as “emerging public threat.” CNBC reports US health officials are “flagging the increasing popularity of flavored e-cigarettes as an emerging public threat,” according to a new CDC study published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease. The study says these products accounted for “roughly 56 percent of the industry’s sales in 2016,” but the “data are two years old and don’t capture current trends. If they did, the numbers would likely be even higher given how popular newer brands like Juul have become.” CNBC’s coverage states Juul’s “popularity has terrified anti-tobacco advocates who for years have pushed cigarette smoking rates to historic lows.” Brian King, one of the study’s authors and deputy director for research translation in the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said e-cigarettes could benefit adults but “there’s no redeeming quality for kids.” He added, “I always like to say advertising brings the horse to water, flavors get them to drink and nicotine keeps them coming back for more.”
From the news release of the American Association for Justice.
