The MHRA, Judge Leon and the FDA

When we read the MHRA consultation document we were interested to note that they used the FDA press release (which  stated that electronic cigarettes contained toxins) as a justification for reclassifying the e-cigarette as a medicine.

“We know, from work done by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, that laboratory analysis of e-cigarette samples were found to contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals, against which general product safety legislation could not protect. “

Source: MHRA Consultation Document (Also see our previous post: The FDA, The MHRA and the Electronic Cigarette.)

The use of the FDA’s propoganda (unlike the FDA research, the press release contained no mention of the quantity of the toxins, which were similar to those found in FDA approved nicotine cessation aids) is particularly interesting as the FDA’s position has recently been challenged in court.

We have recently summarised the judgement on our website – you can read the full summary as well as our thoughts on the implications here: FDA v NJOY & Smoking Everywhere: Court Ruling.

In addition to criticising the FDA’s “aggressive” attempts to extend the boundaries of its authority, the Judge also challenged the FDA’s health claims, stating:

I am not convinced that the threat to the public interest in general or to third parties in particular is as great as the FDA suggests.

The judge also viewed the suggestion that the device undergo more onerous regulation just because it was safer as “absurd”.

It will be interesting to see if the MHRA give the court ruling as much weight as they have given to the FDA’s propoganda!

Tags: fda, mhra, njoy

Related posts:

1. The FDA, The MHRA and the Electronic Cigarette
2. Prominent Physicians Attack FDA’s Stance on E-Cigarettes
3. Electronic Cigarette Survey Results Out
4. FDA accused of malpractice, speaking with forked tongue
5. FDA/ Health Groups Persuade Smokers to Stick to Cigarettes

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