U.S. FDA official says vaping tied to nausea sleep problems

A former Food and Drug Administration official on Thursday became the first person in the agencys history to unleash his data in the issue of vaping while also raising questions about long-term consequences for people who indulge in the sometimes cheery practice.

Peter Marks who was appointed to the post by the FDAs chairman Mr. Patrick Sensible and now a science adviser to the Trump administration posted a trove of data on 2016 fail-safewill products including 580 e-cigarettes and two brands of menthol along with a breakdown of their potential health effects.

I know the FDA will read all of this and take swift action when they see it said Marks who joins the agency as an assistant professor at Georgia State University.

I dont believe my data should be used to make a decision one way or another he said in an interview. The goal is not to create a lot of panic because thats not what the FDA is for.

Puns and threats to halt the entire industry previously unthinkable represent a personal milestone for Marks who said his data will not only inform the public but also public health officials who will evaluate why such a move has allowed so many young people to access nicotine.

The former FDA official who is not permitted to speak on the record said he was told by the agencys then-chief medical officer Greg Shurit that he could be fired for releasing the information.

There are already scientific studies linking e-cigarettes to lung diseases and serious health risks and the FDA has been forced to block sales to youth and people under 21 citing public health concerns over the unseen side effects he estimates could be caused by their use.

The FDA has declined to comment further.

E-cigarette makers and health experts rush to cast doubt on Marks figures with no sentence.

Rival Professor Brian Solomon a professor of public health and medicine at Northeastern University in Boston who has done research on e-cigarettes and vaping and has received research support from Vuse said last month Marks data would be critical as to whats happening.

My concern is that as a medicine professor with decades of experience with tobacco perhaps Ill have some insight into the potential adverse effects of these products he said.

Markets have gotten concerns over nicotine another widely used e-cigarette product with which the FDA has posted warnings about possible health effects prompting the Food and Drug Administration to begin posting the results of lab tests of vapers.

U. S. federal health officials declined in July to offer details on the potential long-term effects of vaping on people.

Sharon Brown the executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics said at a news conference last month that vaping is not for kids; it is for adults over the age of 21 with high blood pressure heart disease respiratory disease and nicotine dependence.

President Donald Trump promised during a CNN town hall event in August that e-cigarettes would be a hell of a thing to do with if you will.

Theyre so easy to use and theyre so addictive said Dr. Christopher Murray a professor of public health and medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle.