The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it will move forward with a nationwide ban on menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products, a blow to the tobacco industry that has lobbied for years to keep sales legal.

Why it matters: The decision, which could take years to implement, kicks off the official rule-making process and comment period by the agency. Tobacco companies are expected to challenge any final regulation in court.

The White House is exploring whether to make tobacco companies reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: The policy would make nicotine levels so low that cigarettes wouldn't be addictive, and wouldn't satisfy nicotine addiction — theoretically pushing smokers to buy less harmful tobacco products instead.

Public health advocates are pressing the Food and Drug Administration to ban menthol-flavored tobacco products, years after other flavors were banned.

The big picture: Congress gave menthol a pass when it banned flavored cigarettes in 2009, but advocates are highlighting the products' disproportionate use among Black smokers, at a time when policymakers are especially attuned to racial inequities in health.

E-cigarette use among middle and high schoolers dropped significantly since last year, with 1.8 million fewer teens vaping, a federal report released Wednesday shows.

Why it matters: The survey, conducted between mid-January and mid-March, highlights the effects of last year's outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and deaths.

E-cigarette use among middle and high schoolers dropped significantly since last year, with 1.8 million fewer teens vaping, a federal report released Wednesday shows.

Why it matters: The survey, conducted between mid-January and mid-March, highlights the effects of last year’s outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and deaths.

68 people have died from a lung injury associated with e-cigarette use in 29 states and the District of Columbia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports as of Feb. 18.

What's new: Because of the consistent declines in new EVALI cases since Sept. 2019, as well as the identification of vitamin E acetate as a primary cause of EVALI, Tuesday's report will be the final CDC update on the number of hospitalized EVALI cases and deaths nationally.

Scientists and doctors are exploring whether existing treatments for HIV, Ebola and malaria could combat the coronavirus, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Driving the news: The antiviral remdesivir protected monkeys from MERS, another coronavirus, both before and after exposure, the National Institute of Health announced Thursday.

Exposure to vaping products — through friends, endorsements on social media or branded merchandise — makes students much more likely to vape, according to a study published in JAMA on Wednesday.

Driving the news: The study was published the same day Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey sued Juul, saying its early marketing campaign targeted teenagers with celebrity endorsements and ads on popular sites.

Juul Labs paid a company to place ads on student-focused websites including the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Seventeen magazine, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

Why it matters: The suit, based on the findings of a two-year investigation, contradicts the e-cigarette company’s denial that it sought out teenagers to buy its products.