Vaping Illness Leads To Calls For Ban In LA

LOS ANGELES, CA — A week after the first vaping-related fatality was reported in Los Angeles, City Attorney Mike Feuer called for a citywide ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products Thursday.

Feuer submitted a report to the City Council, citing the rising number of local vaping-related illnesses and calling for decisive action. His report comes as health officials nationwide struggle to pinpoint the exact cause of the illness in the aftermath of vaping-related deaths.

LA County health officials report 16 "serious" vaping- associated pulmonary injuries and one death associated with electronic cigarettes or vaping devices. Other reported cases around the nation noted similar symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, fever and possible vomiting and diarrhea.

"Flavored tobacco plays an outsized role in the vaping epidemic confronting our youth and has long been a factor in increasing demand for traditional tobacco products.Enacting a citywide ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products is the best way to safeguard our youth and protect the general public from significant health risks," Feuer said. "With the introduction of e-cigarettes ... flavored products were reintroduced to a new generation of our youth with resulting increase in youth tobacco usage," according to the city attorney's report. "The current health crisis was a predictable result and so too should be the city's response."

In his report to the City Council, Feueridentified restrictions enacted in other cities and states to curtail sales of electronic cigarettes, hookah devices and other products that distribute nicotine. The measures range from regulations on vaping advertisements to outright bans on the substances and devices. The Food and Drug Administration has been using criminal investigators to examine illnesses related to using vaping products, Mitch Zeller, the director of the Center for Tobacco Products for the FDA, said Thursday.

"Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working tirelessly to investigate the distressing incidents of severe respiratory illness associated with use of vaping products," according to the FDA website. "The FDA and CDC are working closely with state and local health officials to investigate these incidents as quickly as possible, and we are committed to taking appropriate actions as a clearer picture of the facts emerges."

The Food and Drug Administration is now testing vaping samples from across the nation. Contaminants such as nicotine, THC, additives, pesticides, and opioids, poisons and toxins that could be used as cutting agents, NBC reported.

"No one substance, including vitamin E acetate, has been identified in all of the samples tested," an FDA spokesman confirmed NBC News. "Importantly, identifying any compounds that are present in the samples will be one piece of the puzzle but will not necessarily answer questions about causality."

According to federal officials, more than 500 illnesses related to vaping have been reported nationwide, and at least seven people have died.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Thursday again warned residents about the use of vaping and electronic cigarette devices, as they are potentially harmful to proper lung function.

Vaping-associated pulmonary injury, or VAPI is sending alarms through the country because the popularity of vaping has exploded despite the dearth of science behind the the long term health effects. Authorities have not identified a specific e-cigarette brand or product the illnesses could be traced back to. However, health officials are examining Vitamin E acetate after it was found in extremely high levels in samples of vaping products that contained cannabis.

In all several Los Angeles County cases, the patients had a "history of using a cannabis or marijuana-type product," notably THC, the active chemical in marijuana, Dr. Muntu Davis, the county's health officer said.

According to Davis, the patient was an "older adult who had chronic underlying health conditions," but vaping is considered the probable cause of death. He declined to give the patient's exact age, but said the person was over 55.

Officials said about two-thirds of the vaping illness cases reported were in people younger than 25. Both male and female cases have been reported. All but one reported using both an e-cigarette and a cannabis-type product, not necessarily at the same time.

One reported using flavored liquids only with no nicotine and it didn't contain THC or CBD, the elemental compounds that produce effects from smoking cannabis. Various devices and products were reported and remain under investigation, the county stated, and no specific vendor, product or substance has been identified as the cause.

People can report vaping cases to the Department of Public Health at 626-299-3504.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.