FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s Resignation Leaves the Future of Vaping Regulation Hazy
Gottlieb’s exit comes at a time when he and the FDA seemed poised to take serious action against e-cigarettes
Tuesday’s abrupt resignation announcement from U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb caught the political world by surprise. It also raised concerns over an increasingly pressing subject: the future of vaping regulations in the U.S.
Gottlieb, whose tenure as commissioner will end next month, cited a long commute from his house in Connecticut and a desire to spend more time with his family as the reasons for his resignation, according to the Washington Post. His exit comes at a time when he and the FDA appeared poised to begin taking serious action against vaping. In September 2018, Gottlieb released a statement calling vaping “an epidemic” and threatened to pull the devices from the market unless manufacturers made greater efforts to combat vaping among minors.
That charged rhetoric marked a departure from earlier in his tenure, when Gottlieb was criticized by anti-smoking interests for delaying e-cigarette regulations. His change of heart appeared to have been spurred by the explosive popularity of JUUL (a company now valued at $38 billion)…
