Schumer to FDA boss: Curb e-cigs

Sen. Chuck Schumer wants the outgoing head of the federal Food and Drug Administration to crack down on e-cigarette companies before he hangs up his hat at the end of the month.

The Senate minority leader’s specific gripes revolve around e-cigarette companies that market to children and sell their products in convenience stores — and on Sunday he called on FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to implement strict regulations that ban each practice.

“Do you think these flavors are aimed at adults?” Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked. “Candy cane, vanilla waver, whipped cream, juice box. These and other ‘fun flavors’ are a trap to hook kids and hook ’em fast.”

The marketing strategy seems to be working — a 2018 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 28% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes at least 20 days a month, and more than 80% of children who suck on the addictive vapes use those fruity flavors.

Gottlieb, a Trump appointee, took over at the FDA in May 2017. Not long after, the agency announced it was delaying regulations on e-cig products until 2021.

Still, Gottlieb cracked down last November on individual companies that were marketing e-cigs to children, a move that was commended by Schumer.

“In an administration known for cozying up to special interests and huge corporations, Gottlieb was different,” said Schumer. “He really stuck up for the average consumer.”

Schumer said he wants the new FDA chief to commit to more e-cig regulations before confirmation. No one has been named to the post yet.

A spokesman for Juul, whose USB drive-shaped e-cigarettes have become wildly popular in high schools across the country, said the company is taking action to crack down on thirdparty social media content that promotes its vapes to children.

But Schumer said self-regulation was not enough, noting that e-cigarette companies are knowingly causing damage to the public while profiting at the same time. “The companies are making profit, and they won’t stop on their own,” he said. “We need the FDA to stop it.”