The Food and Drug Administration is allowing Juul Labs to keep its electronic cigarettes on the market about three years after the agency banned the company’s products.
The agency said the company can sell its original e-cigarette device and its refill cartridges in tobacco and menthol flavors.
The move comes after the agency conducted an “extensive scientific review” that found that the benefit e-cigarettes pose to adult smokers outweighs the dangers to non-smokers.
FDA officials said that the company submitted evidence showing a high number of adult smokers who opted to switch to e-cigarettes after previously smoking combustible ones. According to Juul, it has helped 2 million adults quit cigarettes.
“While today’s actions permit these specific e-cigarette products to be legally marketed in the U.S. to adults 21 and older, it does not mean these tobacco products are safe, nor are they FDA approved,” the agency said.
Lawmakers have blamed Juul for sparking an epidemic of e-cigarette use among young people, with some accusing the company of marketing its products to children.
Remember: In 2022, the FDA banned the sale of Juul e-cigarettes nationwide claiming that the company did not prove that keeping its products on store shelves “would be appropriate for the protection of public health.”
The FDA suspended its order two weeks later pending an internal review of “scientific issues” of the company’s application.
The ban nearly bankrupted the company along with the roughly $1.7 billion Juul Labs had to pay to settle 5,000 lawsuits alleging it marketed its products to teenagers.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Thursday called on FDA to reverse the decision, saying Juul “ignited this epidemic by addicting millions of children, and lied about the harms of their vapes.”
“It is clear that the Trump Administration does not care about our kids. Instead, they are giving the green light to Big Tobacco to continue lining their pockets by peddling poison,” Durbin said, adding he will be launching an investigation into the move.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
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