health
FDA won't appeal ruling on e-cigarettes
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 9, 2011
The Food and Drug Administration will not appeal the December 2010 court decision that said electronic cigarettes made or derived from tobacco should be regulated as tobacco products.
E-cigarettes are not drug devices unless they are marketed for therapeutic purposes, according to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The FDA wanted the products regulated as drug delivery devices due, in part, to safety concerns about their unknown levels of nicotine and other chemicals. The agency said it is developing a strategy to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/05/09/hlbf0509.htm.
