Juul Products Face Threat From FDA Who May Consider Removing E-Cigarettes From Market

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may order Juul to remove its e-cigarettes from the U.S. market after reviewing two years of data from the company. A Wall Street Journal report said the FDA could decide as early as Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The FDA has yet to announce any efforts to remove Juul's e-cigarettes from the market.

E-cigarette sales exploded on the U.S. market four years ago and Juul specifically targeted young adults and teens. That marketing was successful with those demographics, but reports quickly rose around the potentially harmful side effects of excessive vaping. Some even speculated that vaping or using e-cigarettes, especially unregulated products, may be more harmful than smoking cigarettes.

Once these products hit the market, the FDA began an investigation and later blamed Juul for the intentional spike in vaping among children. Juul has since tried regaining the trust of U.S. regulators.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said on Wednesday that a report from the U.S. Surgeon General revealed 87% “of adult smokers start smoking before age 18, and about two-thirds of adult daily smokers began smoking daily by 18 years of age."

While the FDA has yet to announce an end to Juul e-cigarette products, it did release new plans regarding nicotine addictiveness in cigarettes "and other combusted tobacco products" on Wednesday. According to a press release, the plan would reduce youth use, addiction, and deaths related to the use of the products.

Around 480,000 people in the U.S. die each year from smoking-related diseases. It is "the leading cause of preventable disease and death" and costs the U.S. healthcare system $300 billion, according to the FDA.

This new plan "would establish a maximum nicotine level to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products."