Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Dueling Epidemics, Fights Over Stem Cells And Cannabis, Politically Tricky Waters Await New FDA Commissioner
New Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen M. Hahn rises at 4 a.m. each day for an hour of intensive strength and stamina training. On stressful days, he fits a second workout in during the late afternoon. Given the politically tricky waters ahead, those twice-daily workouts may soon become the norm. Dr. Hahn, 60, takes over an FDA under fire for failing to adequately respond to the health threat from growing use of e-cigarettes and vaping products. (Burton, 1/29)
The US Food and Drug Administration received its fourth consecutive failing grade on regulation of tobacco products in the American Lung Association's annual State of Tobacco Control report. A key factor in the grade was the Trump administration's decision to exempt menthol and tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes from the policy it finalized this month to clear the market of cartridge-based e-cigarette flavors. The final policy was a shift from its September announcement that it would clear the market of all e-cigarette flavors except tobacco. (Yu, 1/29)
The Bucks County District Attorneys Office on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against e-cigarette maker Juul, alleging that the vaping giant used sweet flavors and slick marketing to lure kids as young as middle school age to nicotine addiction. Through the use of new technologies and deceptive and predatory marketing to children via social media, Juul has turned a generation into addicts unwittingly, District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub said at a news conference in Doylestown to announce the suit, the second filed by an area district attorney. E-cigarettes are responsible for the largest increase in teen substance abuse in decades. (Giordano, 1/29)
