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ASH RESPONDS TO E-CIGARETTE LETTER
Action on Smoking and Health
(ASH) has sent a communication which responds to a nasty letter written
by
an e-cigarette company. The nasty letter alleged that a news
article pointing out
some of the dangers of e-cigarettes reported by the Food and Drug
Administration [FDA] "could lead to the deaths of smokers and
electronic cigarette users."
ASH provided information about
potential dangers of e-cigarettes which were not included in the FDA's
report, including the fact that some e-cigarettes are now being sold to
admininter Cialis as well as nicotine, and a new report concluding that
e-cigarettes "are potentially lethal to children."
ASH's communication is set forth below.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a non-profit tax-exempt scientific
organization, America's first antismoking organization, and one with
extensive involvement for more than twenty years with nicotine,
nicotine devices, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA],
writes to provide you and your readers with additional information
about electronic cigarettes to supplement your article entitled "Saudi
Arabia to Curb E-Cigarettes" [Web posted at: 8/4/2009 2:28:44].
More specifically, we are aware of a so-called "open letter" written to
you by the managing director of an e-cigarette company which,
especially because it is written by an entity with an obvious financial
interest in the topic, and someone who apparently has no scientific or
medical training, may not reveal all relevant information.
http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=14878&catid=1088
Your article was based upon a report the FDA issued, apparently
in response to my scheduled appearance on a major U.S. national
television news program.
http://www.pr-inside.com/fda-to-regulate-e-cigarettes-as-toxins-r1403601.htm
However, as my organization pointed out at the time, the dangers which
the FDA noted in its report were apparently not the only potential
dangers associated with these new e-cigarettes, and that these devices
create many known and potential health risks to the users, to
bystanders, and to the economy.
These include possible contamination, smokers who otherwise would quit
instead remaining addicted to nicotine, the deadly danger nicotine
inhalation can pose for people with risk factors for heart attacks, the
propensity of inhaled nicotine to sustain or even trigger an addiction,
the worry that youngsters will use e-cigarettes as "training wheels" on
the way towards cigarette smoking, and the potential risks to those
around e-cigarette users -- including infants and young children, the
elderly, those with existing medical problems, etc. -- who will be
exposed to the exhaled vapors.
http://www.pr-inside.com/fda-ignores-major-dangers-of-e-cigarettes-r1406736.htm
Indeed, even as this is written, there is new evidence that
e-cigarettes "are potentially lethal to children."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1161713/Fake-cigarettes-potentially-lethal-children.html
Also, you should know that, as a result of the FDA report featured in
your publication, the sale of e-cigarettes has been banned by state law
in a least one U.S. state, ads for the product have reportedly been
banned by Facebook [a major Internet entity], and virtually all of
America's major national health and antismoking organizations have
called for a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes. Moreover, at least
one company is now offering the product to provide users with Cialis as
well as nicotine, illustrating still other potential risks as such
products could be used to administer many dangerous drugs, most of
which otherwise require prescriptions.
http://www.pr-inside.com/e-cigarette-sales-banned-by-court-order-r1418417.htm
http://www.pr-inside.com/fda-ignores-major-dangers-of-e-cigarettes-r1406736.htm
http://www.pr-inside.com/paypal-warned-about-e-cigarette-legal-r1430452.htm
In summary, in evaluating e-cigarettes, we respectfully suggest that
both your publication and your readers not rely upon the largely
unsubstantiated representations of sellers (who have an obvious bias
and usually no medical training or credibility), some allegedly
supported by studies which have not been published in reputable medical
journals and which may have been financed by the industry itself
(thereby creating a clear conflict of interest).
Instead, we would urge your publication and your readers to rely upon
the impartial governmental body charged by U.S. law with evaluating
such products [FDA], major U.S. national health organizations which are
impartial and have the necessary scientific authority and credibility
to address these issues, and decisions by impartial and unbiased
entities such as the Attorney General of Oregon, Facebook, etc.
In this regard you should find the links [URLs] set forth in this
communication, as well as the many URLs contained in the linked
documents, helpful. We urge you and your readers to consult them
for the truth. The simple truth is that no reputable scientific
study, much less one published in a major scientific or medical
journal, has ever shown that e-cigarettes are any less dangerous than
conventional tobacco cigarettes.
ADDITIONAL LINKS WHICH MIGHT BE HELPFUL:
SUMMARY OF FDA ANALYSIS OF E-CIGARETTES:
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm173146.htm
COMPLETE FDA ANALYSIS OF E-CIGARETTES:
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/ScienceResearch/UCM173250.pdf
E-CIGARETTE CRITICS ACCUSED OF "LIBEL" AND "SLANDER" // BUT FDA IS
ALREADY ASSERTING JURISDICTION OVER PRODUCT
http://www.pr-inside.com/e-cigarette-critics-accused-of-libel-and-r1402964.htm
ASH'S LEAD FOLLOWED; BILL BANS E-CIG USE IN NO-SMOKING SECTIONS
http://www.legislatorcooper.com/pressrelease_259.html
FDA BEGINS REGULATING E-CIGARETTES AS DRUG-DELIVERY DEVICES // ASH'S
LEGAL PETITION SPURS/EXPLAINS ACTION
http://www.pr-inside.com/fda-begins-regulating-e-cigarettes-as-r1262323.htm
ASH SEEKS REGULATION OF E-CIGARETTES - COPY OF PETITION
http://ash.org/ecigpetition
FOUR NEW DANGERS TO NONSMOKERS - INCLUDING E-CIGARETTES
http://ash.org/4dangers.html
PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Professor of Public Interest Law and Executive Director
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006, USA
(202) 659-4310 // ash.org/
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Presented as a public service by Action
on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street, N.W., Wash., DC 20006, Tel: (202) 659-4310
ASH, founded in 1968, is the national legal-action
antismoking and nonsmokers' rights organization which helped ban
cigarette commercials, started the modern nonsmokers' rights movement,
pioneered using legal action against smoking, developed novel legal
theories to protect children from tobacco smoke at home and in cars,
get lower health insurance rates for nonsmokers, fought tobacco
subsidies, and much much more.
ASH is
entirely supported by tax-deductible
contributions.
Material on this page may be freely reproduced, distributed, and
circulated,
but please credit ASH, and include ASH's web address: http://ash.org
