U.S. Food and Drug Admin orders removal of Juul vapes from market

AP Photo/Marshall Ritzel

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered the removal of all Juul vapes from the U.S. market. The move comes following the Biden administration’s crackdown on the tobacco industry and associated nicotine-based products. 

“Today’s action is further progress on the F.D.A.’s commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards,” said FDA commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf in a press release. 

“The agency has dedicated significant resources to review products from the companies that account for most of the U.S. market,” he continued. “We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.” 

The news of the ban comes a day after the Wall Street Journal reported that the federal agency planned to order Juul e-cigarettes off the U.S. market. The “agency has cleared way for rivals Reynolds American, NJOY Holdings to keep selling tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes,” reported the WSJ. 

“The marketing denial order would follow a nearly two-year review of data presented by the vaping company, which sought authorization for its tobacco- and menthol-flavored products to stay on the U.S. market,” the report said. 

Like other vape manufacturers, Juul markets itself as an alternative to cigarettes for adults. However, media outlets hyperfixated on Juul created a controversy suggesting that the popular product was used exclusively by teenagers, creating a moral panic over their use over the past few years. 

Sales of the product surged by up to 800% between 2017 and 2018, giving Juul a 68% market share in vaping and e-cigarettes, CNBC reported. 

The ban of Juul products from shelves comes despite the FDA’s admission that it has not received clinical information to suggest an immediate hazard associated with the use of Juul products, the FDA stated. 

“However, the MDOs issued today reflect FDA’s determination that there is insufficient evidence to assess the potential toxicological risks of using the JUUL products. There is also no way to know the potential harms from using other authorized or unauthorized third-party e-liquid pods with the JUUL device or using JUUL pods with a non-JUUL device,” the FDA said. 

In a statement, Michele Mital, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said, “The FDA is tasked with ensuring that tobacco products sold in this country meet the standard set by the law, but the responsibility to demonstrate that a product meets those standards ultimately falls on the shoulders of the company.” 

Mital explained that the company failed to supply the FDA with the necessary information to meet its standards. 

“As with all manufacturers, JUUL had the opportunity to provide evidence demonstrating that the marketing of their products meets these standards,” she said. “However, the company did not provide that evidence and instead left us with significant questions. Without the data needed to determine relevant health risks, the FDA is issuing these marketing denial orders.”