FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020
Statement attributable to:
Gary LeRoy, MD
President
American Academy of Family Physicians
“All efforts to eliminate vaping among young people are welcome. However, some public health challenges are so important that only an all-inclusive, comprehensive approach will suffice. Vaping among our youth is just such a challenge, and today’s FDA enforcement policy on e-cigarette manufacture and sale falls short.
“More than 5 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. Of them, 1.6 million use the product frequently and nearly 1 million use e-cigarettes daily.
“Eliminating the fruit flavors that attract youth to e-cigarettes is a step in the right direction. However, today’s FDA enforcement policy allows continued manufacture and sale of menthol e-cigarettes, thereby leaving those who are addicted to menthol products at risk. It also spares vaping shops from enforcement by exempting flavored products that are mixed on-site in vendors’ stores.
“The American Academy of Family Physicians calls on the FDA to expand this policy by banning menthol flavors and all forms of mixing fruit flavors for use in e-cigarettes. Only by enforcing such a comprehensive prohibition can we expect to eliminate nicotine addiction among our young people.”
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About American Academy of Family Physicians
Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 130,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the largest medical society devoted solely to primary care. Family physicians conduct approximately one in five office visits — that’s 192 million visits annually or 48 percent more than the next most visited medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care. To learn more about the specialty of family medicine and the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care, visit www.aafp.org. For information about health care, health conditions and wellness, please visit the AAFP’s consumer website, www.familydoctor.org.