SALT LAKE CITY — A top Food and Drug Administration official refused to say Wednesday whether the Trump administration still intends to clear the market of flavored e-cigarettes as it announced two months ago.

Mitchell Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, told a Senate committee that is a question for the White House.

“There is no final answer as of now,” Zeller said in response to Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., repeatedly asking the question.

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Sen. Mitt Romney proposes bill to ban flavored e-cigarettes

Sen. Mitt Romney introduced a bill Thursday to ban flavored e-cigarettes and tax vaping products like regular cigarettes to fund a public awareness campaign about the dangers of vaping.

Zeller and Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in Washington.

A one point in the hearing, Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney wondered who is to blame. “Is it your issue or is it our fault?” he asked the pair.

President Donald Trump signaled this week that he might be stepping back from a full ban on flavored vaping products, saying he intends to meet with vaping advocates and others to discuss the plan.

“Will be meeting with representatives of the Vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the Vaping and E-cigarette dilemma. Children’s health & safety, together with jobs, will be a focus!” Trump tweeted Monday.

When Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced a move to ban nontobacco flavored e-cigarettes, the president said “we are going to have some very strong rules and regulations” to prevent teenagers from becoming addicted to nicotine.

Romney, a member of the Senate health committee, introduced legislation to ban flavored e-cigarettes and tax vaping products like regular cigarettes to fund a public awareness campaign about the dangers of vaping.

In the hearing, he noted that another senator proposed a flavor restriction more than a year ago, but nothing has come of it. Despite successful efforts to reduce youth smoking, there has been a “massive” increase in addiction, Romney said.

“Is it your issue or is it our fault? It’s tempting for me to join in blaming you all for not doing something to stop what happened but should we have acted?" he asked Zeller and Schuchat.

About 13.5 million Americans vape, including 5 million teenagers, according to the CDC. More than 2,000 people nationwide have suffered vaping-related lung disease and 39 have died, according to the CDC. More than half are under age 25 and 15% are under 18.

As of Tuesday, 114 cases of vaping-related lung disease have been reported in Utah, with an additional 13 potential cases under investigation, according to the Utah Department of Health. There has been one death in the state. The rate of vaping illness in Utah is six times the national average.

State health officials say vaping cartridges containing THC are likely causing the lung injuries. Federal health officials last week identified a form of vitamin E as a “strong culprit” in vaping illnesses.

“How did we get here? What did we get wrong?” Romney asked in the hearing.

Schuchat attributed “skyrocketing” e-cigarette use among teenagers to social media advertising — “under the radar for us adults” — that made vaping look cool, flavored products and less harsh but highly addictive nicotine.

“Not addressing those three factors, led us to where we are,” she said.

The Utah Department of Health issued an emergency rule cracking down on the sale of flavored e-cigarette juices, but a judge stopped it from taking effect after a group of e-cigarette retailers sued, arguing that there is no evidence linking lung disease with flavored vape products.

In the Senate hearing, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said restricting flavors could make the problem worse instead of better. He said the deaths appear to be mostly caused by vaping illegal products. Most adults use flavors, and people choosing vaping over smoking has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, he said.

“It’s already illegal for kids to vape,” he said. “If you want kids not to vape, why don’t we increase the penalty on people selling to kids?”

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