Scientists who said vaping was safe were paid by e-cigarette firms

A STUDY that was cited by public health officials when they advised that vaping was safe was funded by the e-cigarette industry, it has emerged.

Last week Public Health England (PHE) released a report encouraging Britain’s eight million smokers to switch to e-cigarettes, stating that they were 20 times less harmful than traditional cigarettes. They called for e-cigarettes to be prescribed for smokers on the NHS. But the report relied on a 2014 study that was conducted by scientists in the pay of e-cigarette companies.

Writing in The Lancet, health experts have warned that PHE based a “major conclusion” on an “extraordinarily flimsy foundation”. They accused the agency of falling short of its public health mission.

The Lancet revealed that three of the 11 authors of the original study were paid advisers to the e-cigarette industry. The editors of the journal European

Addiction Research even issued a warning alongside the original report saying there was a “potential conflict of interest”. But PHE failed to declare the warning when they presented findings to journalists in London last week.

PHE claimed that if every smoker in Britain switched to vaping, 75,000 lives could be saved a year. They called for e-cigarettes to be prescribed on the NHS once regulated. So far no e-cigarette has been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency or the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Several studies have found that the flavourings used in e-cigarettes may cause respiratory problems and damage the immune system, while research published on Tuesday by the University of Southern California concluded that e-cigarettes may encourage youths to take up smoking.

Last August the World Health Organisation said the use of e-cigarettes indoors should be banned over fears that they can be as toxic to bystanders as normal cigarettes.

The report also said manufacturers should be prevented from marketing e-cigarettes as “smoking cessation aids” until they provided robust scientific evidence. A follow up report in October found most devices had not been scientifically tested and warned that nicotine could contribute to cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration and tumour growth.

There are also concerns that because many e-cigarettes are manufactured by the tobacco industry, the NHS could end up paying companies to clean up the health problems that they created.

PHE said it was standing by its report and said an independent expert had verified the findings.