Grassley Presses FDA on Oversight of E-Cigarette Sales to Children

Statement

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb seeking answers regarding the agency's oversight efforts of e-cigarette manufacturers and their marketing efforts to minors. Specifically, Grassley is seeking more information on FDA's plan to ensure that manufacturers and retailers follow the law and pay any fines that have been imposed.

"…the FDA has stated that it is currently "[i]nvestigating whether manufacturers of certain e-cigarette products may be marketing new products that were not on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016, thus falling outside of the FDA's compliance policy, and have not gone through premarket review,'" Grassley wrote. "It is important for the Committee to better understand the FDA's plans to investigate potential violations of premarket review requirements and the history and efficacy of past enforcement efforts."

Grassley, chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, reintroduced the bipartisan Protecting Kids from Candy-Flavored Drugs Act with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California in 2017. Grassley and Feinstein have introduced similar legislation seeking to increase the criminal penalties for marketing candy-flavored drugs to appeal to children each Congress for more than a decade.

Source