Nov 1, 2019

Trump nominates FDA's next commissioner

FDA headquarters in 2015. Photo: Al Drago/CQ Roll Call

President Trump on Friday nominated the chief medical officer of Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center, Stephen Hahn, to be the FDA's next commissioner.

Catch up quick: HHS Secretary Alex Azar's top deputy, Brett Giroir, will oversee the FDA on an acting basis until Hahn is confirmed. Hahn has never worked in government before, per STAT News. The FDA is finalizing plans to ban most flavored e-cigarette cartridges from the market, Azar said in September, in an attempt to discourage youth vaping amid reports of vaping-related deaths and illnesses.

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Ursula Perano

Age to purchase tobacco, e-cigarettes raised to 21 in New York

Photo: Eva Hambach/AFP via Getty Images

As of Wednesday, the legal age to purchase tobacco and electronic cigarettes in the state of New York has gone up from 18 to 21 years old, NBC 4 reports.

Background: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law this summer in an attempt to curtail health threats associated with the use of tobacco products. The Health Department and New York State Police will perform undercover retail checks to determine where vaping products are sold to underage youth, according to a press release cited by CNN.

Go deeperNov 13, 2019

Marisa Fernandez

CDC confirms 2,758 hospital cases of lung injury linked to vaping

Photo: Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images

There are 2,758 confirmed hospital cases of lung injury associated with vaping in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. territories, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports as of Feb 4.

The big picture: Nationally, most vaping-related patients with data on how they sourced products reported obtaining THC-containing products from "informal sources," per the CDC. The agency now recommends users should consider no longer vaping THC products, rather than its original claim to refrain from e-cigarettes.

Go deeperUpdated Feb 11, 2020 - Health

Marisa Fernandez, Rashaan Ayesh, Orion Rummler

64 reported dead from vaping-related lung illness

Photo: Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images

64 people have died from a lung injury associated with e-cigarette use in 28 states and the District of Columbia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports as of Feb. 4.

What's new: Nationally, most vaping-related patients with data on how they sourced products reported obtaining THC-containing products from "informal sources," per the CDC. The agency recommends users should consider no longer vaping THC products, rather than its original claim to refrain from e-cigarettes.

Go deeperUpdated Feb 11, 2020 - Health