FDA sends notices to eLiquid companies to remove their products

August 09, 2019

from the market, as they became available for sale after 8/8/2016 and did not fill out the premarket required FDA evaluation. "Agency remains vigilant in investigating and taking action against illegally marketed tobacco products amid epidemic of youth e-cigarette use." the subheading to their press release reads.

What does this mean, exactly? Is this the begging of the end? Well yes and no. Technically no new products are supposed to have been brought to the market after the previously mentioned August 2016 deadline without going immediately going through the premarket tobacco product application process. As you may have noticed there have been thousands of nic salt eLiquids and hundreds of pod systems released. 

So what's the problem? Well all of these products were released without going through the FDA's required premarket tobacco product application, and thus have become products that are now considered illegally marketed.   That's who these letters were issued to, companies that avoided following the legally required process to bring their products to market. 

The problem is that the process costs $250,000 per individual product.  That means if you enjoy a flavor of some kind of eLiquid, each strength counts as a different stock keeping unit and thus must be tested.  The eLiquid and vape business is a booming new area of industry, but very few companies can afford to complete this process, making the obvious future winners of this little cat and golden mouse game the big tobacco companies who are paying their way into vape profits. 

The future is still up in the air though, as the FDA could get a head on it's shoulders that might just pay attention the mounds of scientific evidence that proves vaping is a net public health benefit.   That or they'll keep having their pockets stuffed with big tobacco money and we'll see the death of a great technological public health advancement in the name of greed, ideology, and nearsightedness.

What do you think? Is this latest action done by the FDA an over reaction? Under reaction?  Are they just trying to do their jobs and everyone keeps throwing them under the bus? Will vaping survive or go away?

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