FDA warns about dangers of e-cigarettes and vaping: seizures, BOOP pneumonia, and hemorrhagic strokes.
Twitter posting of Chance Ammirata from the August 8, 2019, New York Post article located at https://nypost.com/2019/08/08/student-shares-shocking-images-of-collapsed-lungs-after-vaping-for-a-year/
On April 3, 2019, the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issued a stark warning to Americans about the deadly health dangers of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), or “vaping” -- which are now being recognized as anything but “harmless” water vapor.
In his Statement, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., warned about “the recent epidemic rise of youth e-cigarette use that’s threatening the commitment we’ve made to reduce tobacco use among our nation’s children.”
The FDA noted that e-cigarettes can deliver nicotine chemicals “at higher levels than conventional cigarettes,” that vaping can cause seizures and convulsions in young people, and e-cigarettes can cause pre-cancerous changes to airways and lungs in users.
Review the FDA warning letter here:
In addition to nicotine addiction and seizures, a growing body of medical evidence indicates that e-cigarettes can cause pulmonary toxicity and tissue damage, which may reveal itself as bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (“BOOP”), or cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (“COP”), a lung condition in which the bronchioles and alveoli become inflamed and plugged with connective tissue.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6147174/
That’s not all. An April 24, 2019, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health study of e-cigarette products sold in the U.S. found they were contaminated with bacterial and fungal toxins. From a press release for that Harvard study:
The study, which examined 75 popular e-cigarette products--cartridges (single use) and e-liquids (refillable material)--found that 27% contained traces of endotoxin, a microbial agent found on Gram-negative bacteria [a type of bacteria associated with E. Coli and chlamydia], and that 81% contained traces of glucan, which is found in the cell walls of most fungi. Exposure to these microbial toxins has been associated with myriad health problems in humans, including asthma, reduced lung function, and inflammation.
See, https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/htcs-mcf042219.php
The full Harvard study, entitled “Endotoxin and (1 -> 3 -B-D-Glucan Contamination in Electronic Cigarette Products Sold in the United States,” can be found here:
See, https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP3469
Recent news articles highlight this growing threat. In Chicago it was reported this month that six young people have been hospitalized in Illinois after experiencing severe breathing problems possibly related to vaping. They experienced symptoms including chest pains, shortness of breath, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea after vaping in the days and weeks leading up to their hospitalization, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported:
In Wisconsin this month, the Department of Health there reported 12 cases of vaping-related severe lung disease and 13 additional cases under investigation. These injuries were tied to people using e-cigarettes or vape pens:
https://www.wpr.org/state-health-officials-confirm-new-cases-vaping-related-lung-disease
Then there is the story of Chance Ammirata, age 18, whose Twitter images of the black spots on his lung, posted above, are graphic proof of the damage that can be caused in a short period by vaping. As set forth in his story last week in the New York Post, below, Chance was a cross-country runner and enjoyed scuba diving. He had never smoked cigarettes, and thought vaping was “safe.” But within 18 months of using vaporizers, he suffered a collapsed lung and black spots on his lungs (depicted above) that his doctors have told him will “take years to heal, if they ever do.” His experience has been devastating, and is related here:
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If you or a child or young person you know under the age of 25 has experienced seizure, hemorrhagic stroke, BOOP or COP, or death due to any of these, while using e-cigarettes and/or vaping, you may be entitled to compensation. Manufacturers should pay for the harm their e-cigarettes cause. For a free, personal consultation about your legal rights, with absolutely no obligation, call me at 315-884-8888 or send me an email inquiry using this link:
https://www.jimsnyderlaw.com/contact
I promise to respond immediately.