FDA Under Fire for Not Prioritizing E-Cigarette Testing

While the Food and Drug Administration is facing criticism for not moving fast enough to address health risks of e-cigarettes, it is also coming under fire for not prioritizing testing to determine whether the vaping products can reduce smoking deaths, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.

"It's essential that we figure out whether e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking," said Kurt Ribisl, chairman of health behavior at the University of North Carolina's school of global public health.

The newspaper noted that 480,000 people die each year in the U.S. from causes related to cigarette smoking. Some researchers now believe e-cigarettes could be a safer alternative.

Ribisl and others said the FDA could have cleared the way for testing by eliminating some time consuming requirements.

"The FDA hasn't approached this with a focus on the half-million people a year who die from smoking," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "The FDA hasn't done any of the things it does to fast-track other drugs."

A British study recently revealed that chronic smokers who switched from tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarette vapes in a large randomized control trial saw a significant improvement in markers of heart health after just a month.

But there have also been more than 2,000 cases of vaping-related lung illness and more than 40 deaths in the United States in recent months.

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