Durbin ‘concerned’ Biden isn’t doing enough to stop illegal e-cigarettes

SDick Durbin, D-IL), enate Majority Whip, has reprimanded Justice Department and Food and Drug Administration in regard to a “lack of urgency” In an effort to stop the flood of illegal e-cigarettes that are on the market,

Durbin noted that millions of children had used addictive e-cigarettes. Durbin asked the FDA and the DOJ to intensify coordination and hit the FDA hard. “refusing to enforce the law and take action against companies marketing illegal vaping products to children.” He demanded that he be able to answer a variety of questions by April 7.

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“I write to express my concern that the Biden Administration has not taken more aggressive enforcement action to stop thousands of illegal e-cigarettes from flooding the market and addicting children. I urge you to enhance interagency coordination to address unlawfully marketed vaping products,” Durbin wrote a note to Attorney General Merrick Grland and FDA Commissioner Robert Califf.

The Tobacco Control Act mandates that the FDA regulate tobacco and e-cigarettes. The Justice Department is responsible to enforce those regulations. Durbin stated that “there are more than six e-cigarette manufacturers selling without authorization on the market today.”

TCA states that any new e-cigarettes must show FDA that they are legal. “appropriate for the protection of public health.”

Durbin says that FDA officials have attempted to adjudicate 99 percent of the 26,000,000 applications they have received. Problem arises when FDA officials fail to adjudicate 99% of the 26 million applications it has received, Durbin says. “fails to police the market and permits even those rejected vaping products to continue to be sold,” He said.

“Every single day in America, children pick up vaping with unauthorized products that are on store shelves only because FDA has seemingly granted these illegal e-cigarettes a free pass,” The senator stated.

He cited the December 2022 report of the Reagan-Udall Foundation, which concluded that the FDA was safe. “has not been transparent regarding the reasons it has failed to clear the market of illegal products.”

In the document, it was also noted that “the current process of bringing enforcement actions is cumbersome, and ultimate decisions on whether to take enforcement action rest with DOJ rather than FDA.”

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Durbin praised the FDA’s announcement of plans to convene an international summit on tobacco enforcement following the independent review.

“I commend FDA’s announcement of its intention to convene a summit with DOJ related to tobacco enforcement. It was long overdue. It is important that DOJ and FDA improve collaboration to address the barriers to enforcement that jeopardize public health, especially as it relates to our children,” The Illinois Democrat said.