The Food and Drug Administration will continue to allow Juul to sell its products while the vaping company appeals a recent ban, the agency said on Tuesday.
The FDA wrote on Twitter that there were “scientific issues” warranting additional review of the agency’s ruling last month, which ordered the company to remove its e-cigarettes from the US marketplace.
The agency issued the initial ban on 23 June, but a federal appeals court granted Juul’s request for a hold.
The agency reiterated that the stay should not be misconstrued as a decision to rescind the original order. It said the stay – and the agency’s review – did not “constitute authorization to market, sell or ship Juul products”.
Juul has been seeking official authorization from the agency for its vaping device and flavored pods, and it must prove its products provide more benefit to consumers than harm. When the FDA issued the initial ban it said that Juul’s application “lacked evidence” to prove those benefits, arguing that it had “insufficient data” about “potentially harmful chemicals leaching” from its pods.
Juul has been largely blamed for a public health crisis stemming from vaping among preteens and teens in the US. Besides leading to nicotine addiction, e-cigarettes were also contributing to a rise in acute lung injuries.
About 2.55 million US middle and high school students reported being tobacco users in 2021, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Youth use of tobacco products is unsafe in any form – combustible, smokeless, or electronic,” said Karen Hacker, director of the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
The FDA has approved several vaping products, while rejecting many others.
In a statement after the initial ban, Juul said: “We remain committed to doing all in our power to continue serving the millions of American adult smokers who have successfully used our products to transition away from combustible cigarettes, which remain available on market shelves nationwide.”
