January 17, 2020

expert reaction to perspective on vaping and EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury) in young people in the US

A perspective piece, published in the New England Journal of Medicene (NEJM), comments on the EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury) and youth vaping epidemic in the US.

Prof Jacob George, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Dundee, said:

“This statement confirms what many experts in the UK already believe in that the epidemic of E-cigarette/Vaping associated lung injury or EVALI seen in the USA is not linked to the nicotine containing e-cigarettes sold in the high streets across the UK but rather to Vitamin E acetate used as a cutting agent for cannabis oil.  Furthermore, the regulations governing e-cigarettes manufacture, labelling and sale in the UK and EU are robust and well defined.  The statement also confirms the sentiment that non-smokers, particularly young people should not take up vaping on the belief that it is completely harmless.  The VESUVIUS trial from Dundee and others have shown that chronic tobacco cigarette smokers benefit from switching to e-cigarettes as a measure to reduce exposure to tobacco cigarettes.”

‘The EVALI and youth vaping epidemics – implications for public health’ by Brian A. King et al. was published in the NEJM at 18:00 UK time on Friday 17 January 2020.

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1916171

Declared interests

Prof Jacob George: “No interests to declare.”