DeLauro Urges FDA to Finalize Rules Keeping E-Tobacco Products Away From Kids

Proposal Released Over One Year Ago

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today urged Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff to finalize a rule that would ban e-cigarettes from being sold to minors. DeLauro had previously urged then-FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to finalize the rule by last Saturday, April 25, which marked one year from when it was first proposed.

That letter can be read here.

“I am disappointed that the deeming rule proposed one year ago has not been finalized. Our children cannot wait any longer—I urge you to finalize the deeming regulation now,” DeLauro wrote to Ostroff. “This data highlights that we must have regulations to protect our youth from these products. We need to know what is in these products, who is making them, and how they are being marketed…If we are to put an end to tobacco-related death and disease, FDA must act quickly to protect the nation’s youth from all forms of tobacco.”

The letter can be read in its entirety here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released data showing e-cigarette use among high school students tripled to 13.4 percent from 2013-2014. E-cigarettes are now the most used tobacco product by high school students. The FDA first announced plans to restrict the sale of e-cigarettes four years ago.

DeLauro sits on the subcommittees responsible for funding the FDA and CDC. Congress gave the FDA the authority to regulate e-cigarettes under the 2009 Tobacco Control Act, which DeLauro cosponsored.


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