US Senator Pushes FDA to Protect Children from E-cigarette Harm

According to an article by US media outlet Riverbender on January 18th, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin met with co-founder of the anti-e-cigarette coalition PAVe, Meredith Berkman, to discuss concerns about the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) efforts to protect children from the harms of e-cigarettes.

Debbie expresses dissatisfaction with the FDA's failure to comply with the court's mandated actions, including missing the federal court's deadline of December 31, 2023.

Former Congressman Devin Nunes recently wrote a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf urging him to take action to protect children and put a halt to the illegal sale of e-cigarette products. In his letter, Nunes revealed the FDA's failure to enforce the statutory deadline for regulating synthetic nicotine products.

Devon once again strongly criticizes the FDA, accusing it of failing to clear addictive and enticing e-cigarettes for children, despite manufacturers being long overdue in submitting pre-market tobacco product applications. The final deadline for these applications was September 9, 2021, but the FDA has exceeded the 28-month deadline set by the court, resulting in unauthorized e-cigarettes flooding the market, posing a threat to the health of American children.

During the meeting with Burkeman, Debin emphasized that he will continue to push in the Senate and urge the FDA to take immediate public health protective measures.

He also successfully passed a bipartisan provision in the 2022 fiscal year omnibus spending bill with Senator Susan Collins, which clarifies the FDA's regulatory authority over synthetic nicotine products, helping to prevent e-cigarette manufacturers from circumventing FDA oversight through legal loopholes. The new law requires the FDA to remove all unauthorized synthetic nicotine products from the market by July 13, 2022.