Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Vaping Health Update topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Arkansas health secretary reports nine vaping‑associated lung illness cases; CDC and FDA coordinating testing
Summary
Arkansas Department of Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith reported nine state cases of vaping‑associated pulmonary injury, including three confirmed and eight hospitalizations; he said ADH is coordinating with CDC and FDA as federal agencies expand testing and case definition work.
Arkansas Department of Health Secretary Nate Smith told the Senate public‑health committee that the state had been notified of nine patients with vaping‑associated pulmonary illness.
"Currently, Arkansas Department of Health has been notified of 9 patients with vaping associated pulmonary illness," Smith said. He said three cases are confirmed, three are probable and three are under investigation. Of the six cases that have been interviewed, two reported vaping nicotine only, two reported vaping THC only and two reported both; the age range was 18 to 54 with a majority in the 18–24 bracket, and six of the nine were male. Eight of nine patients had been hospitalized.
Smith said the ADH is coordinating investigations with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On the national level, he reported a CDC tally of approximately 380 confirmed or probable cases across 36 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with six deaths reported. "The exact cause is still under investigation," Smith said, and added that testing of leftover products and devices is underway through FDA and state public‑health laboratories.
The secretary said the Department is collecting clinical histories and vaping product information and encouraged the public to use the FDA's safety reporting portal to submit information on suspect products. He also noted that federal action is underway on flavoring regulation: the FDA announced plans to restrict most non‑tobacco flavorings in e‑cigarettes, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks.
Committee members pressed for additional surveillance data. Dr. Smith said poison‑control calls for liquid‑nicotine exposures have risen — from about 30 calls reported in 2014 to roughly 80 calls in the current calendar year — and reiterated that states and federal agencies are refining case definitions and laboratory testing to determine the likely causes. He emphasized that multiple substances and device types appear implicated and that investigations have not identified a single universal cause.
