Dr. Douglas Jorenby on proposals to remove FDA oversight of e-cigarettes

Dr. Douglas Jorenby

Douglas Jorenby, PhD, professor (CHS), General Internal Medicine and director of clinical services at the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, was featured in a WISC-TV story about two proposals before Congress that would remove e-cigarettes from Food and Drug Administration oversight. 

“I think [FDA oversight] is a logical idea and one that has real, compelling scientific and public health justifications,” said Dr. Jorenby. He drew parallels to low-tar cigarettes that were presented as a boon to public health in the 1950s and 60s, but turned out to have significant health risks. 

One of the two proposals was attached as a rider to budget, reported WISC-TV. The rider, known as the Cole-Bishop Amendment, was struck by bipartisan effort on May 1, 2017. The second proposal, called "The Cigarette Smoking and Electronic Vapor Alternatives Act of 2017,” reverses the previous presidential administration's categorization of e-cigarettes as tobacco products. That bill, H.R. 2194, was referred to the Subcommittee on Health on April 28, 2017.

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