VAPING DEATH TOLL CONTINUES TO RISE
On Friday September 6, US health officials reported potentially five new vaping deaths, urging the public to stop vaping until more is known about the health risks of using e-cigarettes. According to the Wall Street Journal, health officials have uncovered 450 possible vaping-related respiratory illness cases across 33 states, many of the victims in their teens. This includes recently reported vaping deaths in California, Indiana, and Minnesota.
In the official count, health officials have only included lung illness where victims have vaped within three months prior to their hospitalization. Officials have still not been able to identify a common vaping device, substance, or ingredient that links all the vaping illness cases together. However, many of the patients reported vaping THC prior to their hospitalization, the substance in marijuana that gives it its high. Symptoms of the vaping-related breathing illnesses include fatigue, shortness of breath, vomiting, and chest pain.
The number of vaping-related respiratory illness cases has more than doubled in the past month as officials uncover more cases linked vaping device use. States across the nation have launched investigations into the rapid outbreak of vaping illness and vaping death cases. While many of the patients admitted to vaping substances with THC or CBD oil, Illinois and Wisconsin reported that about one-fifth of the vaping-illness patients stated they vaped only nicotine.
The investigation has not yet identified the common factor behind the vaping illnesses, so health officials warn those concerned about the safety of vaping to stay away from vaping products. So far, it is uncertain whether vaping illnesses like such happened before this year.
“We’re all wondering if this is new or just newly recognized,” reported Dr. Dana Meany-Delman from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
JUUL E-Cigarette Lawsuits
Most of the investigation’s attention has been focused on vaping devices, refillable pods and cartridges, and liquids not sold in retailers, but JUUL e-cigarettes has come under fire for safety concerns with chemicals in JUUL pods. JUUL Labs, manufacturers of the most popular e-cigarette on the market, now face a number of claims across the nation alleging that patients’ vaping illnesses and injuries were caused by dangerously high levels of nicotine in JUUL pods and the company’s negligence to warn consumers about the adverse side effects of vaping JUUL products.