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 Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), will be asked by a House Oversight
subcommittee Tuesday about the possible causes of the outbreak, what
vaping products may have been implicated and what can be done about
the disease that recently has sickened 530 people in 38 states. The
parent of a recently stricken Chicago teen will also speak to
lawmakers.
On Wednesday, the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) will appear before a House Energy and Commerce
subcommittee and be asked about the public health threats of
e-cigarettes.
U.S. officials are working to identify the cause of the outbreak of
illness, but no single substance or compound, including
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the high-inducing component of
marijuana, or Vitamin E acetate, has been linked to all of the cases
so far.
Schuchat said last week that officials expect more deaths. The CDC,
which has activated its emergency operations center to coordinate an
investigation, has advised that people should quit vaping if they
can.
For those who continue, public health officials urge consumers to
avoid buying vaping products on the street, using marijuana-derived
oil with the products or modifying a store-bought vape product.
The House Oversight Economic and Consumer Policy subcommittee's
probe began in the summer, and so far has focused on the role
e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc played in what the panel's chairman
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi has called the "youth vaping
epidemic."
"We need to know what's happening to the people falling ill; we need
to know how the youth vaping epidemic started; and we need to find
out how we are going to stop both - that's what this investigation
is all about," Krishnamoorthi told reporters.
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In addition to Juul, in which Altria Group Inc has a minority stake,
leading makers of nicotine e-cigarettes include British American
Tobacco Plc and Imperial Brands Plc.
Along with Schuchat, the subcommittee will hear from Dr. Ngozi Ezike
of the Illinois Department of Public Health and Dr. Albert Rizzo,
the chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. Ruby
Johnson, the parent of a Chicago teen who fell seriously ill after
vaping, will also testify.
On Wednesday, health officials from Michigan, North Carolina, Kansas
and Massachusetts will appear before the Energy and Commerce Health
subcommittee along with Schuchat and the FDA's Norman Sharpless.
The Food and Drug Administration has warned Juul that it violated
regulations because it marketed its vaping products as less risky
than traditional cigarettes.
The popularity of e-cigarettes has now grown to the point where one
in four 12th-graders reported vaping a nicotine product during the
previous 30 days. It is nearly 1 in 10 for 8th-graders, a study
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-vaping-teens/survey-logs-big-one-year-jump-in-nicotine-vaping-among-8th-graders-idUSKBN1W32WD
by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor reported last week.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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