The Food and Drug Administration warned Wednesday that e-cigarettes may be giving young adults seizures.
Outgoing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement that he “can’t yet say for certain” that e-cigarette use is giving teen vapers seizures but that it is a “potential emerging safety issue.”
Gottlieb said that the seizures could be from nicotine toxicity, which is due in part to high concentrations of nicotine in e-cigarettes.
The FDA said that it found 35 reported cases of seizures following use of e-cigarettes between 2010 and early 2019 in reports submitted voluntarily to the FDA and poison control centers.
Throughout his tenure at the FDA, Gottlieb has ramped up scrutiny of e-cigarette manufacturers and their marketing strategies.
The popularity of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed nationwide, especially among young adults, since their introduction to the United States in 2007.
Gottlieb has mandated that certain flavored nicotine pods and e-liquids be removed from shelves, as they appeal to kids. He also said on Fox News in March that if the 2019 Youth Tobacco Survey, due out in August, shows a sharp increase in e-cigarette usage, the FDA would consider looking “at the pod-based cigarettes as a category and potentially take them off the market.”
Gottlieb is leaving the agency this week.
