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SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney tweeted early Tuesday morning, calling for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to “consider recalling e-cigarettes” as the organization continues to investigate recent deaths and illnesses linked to vaping.
“I’m increasingly concerned that a generation of young people has been deceived into thinking e-cigarettes are safe,” the tweet reads.
.@US_FDA should consider recalling e-cigarettes as it continues to investigate recent deaths and illnesses related to vaping. I’m increasingly concerned that a generation of young people has been deceived into thinking e-cigarettes are safe.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) September 10, 2019
Romney, R-Utah, and Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, presented a bill in June to keep electronic cigarettes and other vaping systems away from educational and child care facilities, citing an epidemic among youth.
"In my home state of Utah, the use of electronic cigarettes has nearly doubled in the last five years, with young Utahns most likely to be introduced to vaping while they are in school," Romney said in June. "By banning the use of electronic cigarettes in schools, we are taking an important step to protect the health of young people in Utah and across the nation."
Utah’s Indoor Clean Air Act already bans smoking cigarettes of any kind within 25 feet of the entrance to any building with public access, including schools and child care centers.
State legislators are also hoping to curb the use of vape pens and e-cigarettes, and, in late August, the Health and Human Services Interim Committee unanimously agreed to recommend a bill that would tax e-cigarettes.
Michael Siler, a lobbyist from Students Against Electronic Vaping, said the organization’s current projections show that 18.3%, or nearly 42,000 of Utah youth ages 13-17 use e-cigarettes and vaping products on a daily basis.
On Monday, Utah health officials officially confirmed 35 cases of lung damage linked to vaping and are investigating 12 more potential cases — a jump from the 28 cases reported last week.
The state Department of Health says the cases stem from the use of a mix of nicotine and marijuana e-cigarette products but hasn’t found a specific product linked to each case.
Symptoms of the disease may include coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue, nausea and vomiting.
Federal health officials said Friday that there were about 450 possible cases of breathing ailments linked to the devices, including as many as five deaths in 33 states.
