Last week, Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that they are part of a bi-partisan group making a push regarding the vaping industry.
A release from the senators said that they, along with 15 of the colleagues, are urging the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Dr. Stephen Hahn to comply with the agency’s requirements to reject e-cigarette applications that do not protect the public health once the FDA’s May 12th deadline for e-cigarette product review arrives.
In a letter to the commissioner, the senators highlighted concerns with what they call the FDA’s “ongoing lax oversight of e-cigarettes and tobacco products”. They also asked agency officials for a science-based review that “holds the agency accountable for products that are fueling the youth e-cigarette epidemic”, according to the release.
It said the senators also urged the FDA to act quickly and decisively to remove from the market all tobacco products that are out of compliance with its January 2nd guidance or the May 12th deadline, including products that do not submit premarket tobacco product applications, flavored cartridge-based products and products that appeal to or are targeted to minors.
On May 12th, due to a court order, all e-cigarette manufacturers will be required to submit product applications to the FDA in order to be allowed on the market. Any e-cigarette company that wants to keep or put any new device or flavor product onto the market, must submit an application to the FDA including for products that were recently banned, according to the release.