This week eight teenagers in Wisconsin were admitted to the hospital for suffering severe lung disease believed to be linked to e-cigarettes. Shortly after the news story broke, Illinois also announced that they had minors admitted to the emergency room as well and diagnosed with the same lung disease.
CNN.com reported that physicians interviewed reported that some teens had arrived with such severe lung disease that several had to be placed in the Intensive Care Unit and placed on a ventilator to assist them with breathing.
Tests revealed no infection of the lungs, and the one common denominator among the teens appeared to be vaping.
E-cigarettes have gained increased scrutiny of late. The small devices, many of which look like an everyday thumb drive, are easily concealable by teens, who “puff” the devices believing its safer than smoking.
Several lawsuits have been filed against Juul, the most popular e-cigarette company, who also has nearly 80 percent of the market share. The lawsuits filed to date mainly allege inappropriate and illegal marketing to teens, causing addiction.
But as more and more is developed on the health front, Juul is likely to be at the center of litigation if further conditions, such as lung disease, cardiopulmonary problems and other such similar conditions are linked to the devices which appear to be inevitable.
Additionally, just this week the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it is presently investigating a possible link between the popular e-cigarettes and seizures. The FDA stated that over a 100 reports of seizures linked to vaping had been reported, causing concern and moving the FDA to issue public health announcements. See more here.
Juul vaping devices are said to contain far more nicotine than cigarettes, nearly twenty fold than that of a single cigarette. The smooth vapor is easy on the throat, unlike cigarette smoke.
We will continue to monitor this developing area of science and report as it develops.
