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US Vaping Lobby Sues Authorities in a Bid to Delay Review of E-Cigarette Standards

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Two US groups of vaping industry advocates filed a lawsuit against Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in attempt to delay a deadline for reviewing electronic cigarette standards, the Vapor Technology Association (VTA) said in a press release on Wednesday.
Sputnik

"VTA and Vapor Stockroom (VSR) filed a lawsuit in federal court against FDA over Pre-Market Tobacco Application (PMTA) process and the recently grossly accelerated PMTA filing deadline", the VTA said.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in the state of Kentucky.

PMTA requires all companies to enforce new standards of electronic cigarettes by May 2020.

Both plaintiffs consider this rule "unreasonable and arbitrary".

Small companies would be wiped out from the industry as they would not have enough time to implement complex and expensive measures required by the FDA, they said.

"No business could rationally have been expected to start conducting complex PMTA testing before FDA finally published its PMTA guidance document on 11 June 2019, the day before it asked the Court to impose a 10-month PMTA deadline", VTA Executive Director Tony Abboud said.

Electronic cigarettes may cause serious harm to health, it exposes the lungs to a number of chemicals and even may affect the brain, according National Institute on Drug Abuse.

US media recently reported that almost two dozen people in the Midwest have been hospitalized with severe breathing difficulties linked to vaping.

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