King County Teen Is Washington's First Vaping Illness

SEATTLE, WA — State and local health officials in Washington have confirmed the state's first vaping-related illness. This comes as six people have died in the U.S. amid rising concern about the safety of vape products.

Health officials from King County and the state Department of Health said that a King County teenager was recently hospitalized, but has since recovered. The teen was an E-cigarette user, and went to the hospital in August with a fever and chest pain.

"E-cigarettes and vaping are not safe. Everyone should be aware of the risk for severe lung disease and avoid using e-cigarettes and vaping at this time until the cause of this outbreak is known," King County Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin said in a statement. "Youth, young adults and pregnant women should never use e-cigarettes or vape."

Aside from six deaths, about 450 people in the U.S. have been sickened by vaping products in 33 states. Doctors who treated an Oregon man who died in July believe oils in a THC vape product damaged his lungs irreparably.

King County Public Health put out an alert about vaping products on Aug. 30. The alert described possible symptoms of vaping-related illness, and asked vape product users with those symptoms users to contact the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Many patients have reported using e-cigarettes containing cannabinoid products such as THC or cannabidiol (CBD). To date, no single substance or e-cigarette product has been consistently linked with the illnesses," the alert said.

But King County — or any local jurisdiction in the state — can't take action on its own to ban or tax vape products. County Executive called on the state Legislature to do something about vape products.

"If the legislature is unwilling to strengthen statewide protections, then it must lift preemption. Just like with firearms, state law prevents local jurisdictions from swiftly responding to the unique health issues impacting their communities," he said in a statement.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he would instruct the FDA to take flavored non-tobacco vape products off the market.