Underwood Presses FDA for Failing to Protect Children’s Health

WASHINGTON – Today in an Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Representative Lauren Underwood (IL-14) strongly criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their failure to regulate e-cigarettes and respond to the nationwide youth vaping epidemic. The court-ordered deadline for FDA to finish reviewing all tobacco product applications was September 2021, but there are still thousands of applications that FDA has not reviewed, including the e-cigarette brands that are most popular among high school students. 

Underwood questioned FDA Commissioner Robert Califf at an Appropriations Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing and pressed FDA to prioritize children’s health. 

 “FDA must make this a top priority. We have an entire generation that we are losing in the fight against tobacco, and we have existing regulations on the books that could stop it,” said Underwood. “These products are addictive and they are dangerous, and FDA’s decision has allowed these products to sit on store shelves and remain accessible to young people in our communities. I am once again calling on FDA to prioritize the health of children and complete all e-cigarette application reviews as soon as possible.” 

Full video of Underwood’s remarks can be found here.

FDA has still not reviewed applications of products that are most popular with kids – including applications from JUUL and Vuse, which made up more than 40 percent of the market of e-cigarettes used by high schoolers in the most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey. Recent data shows the high cost of FDA’s inaction; an estimated 2.5 million youth and young adults have started using e-cigarettes for the first time following the missed deadline, including up to 1.2 million teenagers. 

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