A panel from the Republican-controlled House just passed legislation that would prevent the FDA from requiring e-cigarette manufacturers to undergo retroactive safety reviews for products that are already on the market.
The legislation, voted on by the House Appropriations Committee, would still require that new products introduced in the future undergo the (extremely expensive) safety review.
The Trump Administration has temporarily delayed the implementation of the regulations. They were originally slated to take effect in August, but the vaping industry was given a stay of execution when the Administration pushed it back to November.
One of the co-sponsors of the plan is a rare pro-vaping Democrat, Rep. Sanford Bishop from Georgia. He had the following to say about the regulations:
“E-vapor products are 95 percent less harmful than combustible cigarettes. I want to help people in our country, America, to cycle off of cigarettes.”
As you can expect, the legislation wasn’t passed without opposition. The anti-vapers brought out the same old tired arguments in their attempt to save the FDA regs. Rep. Nita Lowley (D-NY) made the following statement:
“While we do not know what is in e-cigarettes, study after study finds that most show high levels of formaldehyde and other cancer-causing chemicals. The FDA would never be able to put the genie back in the bottle, unable to regulate – or even know what is in – these products, forever.”
The formaldehyde claim is based on a study that has been thoroughly debunked.
Lowey made an attempt to defend the FDA rules, which was smacked down in by a 30-22 vote.
