FDA asks DOH hospitals to report vape injuries

MANILA, Philippines — With five persons dying of “mysterious” lung conditions linked to electronic cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is urging all government hospitals to report injuries and illnesses related to the devices.

In an advisory, FDA officer-in-charge Director General Eric Domingo said they are conducting surveillance on injuries and illnesses “arising from the use of electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery system.”

ENDS/ENNDS is the collective name for e-cigarettes, vapes, heated tobacco products and other similar devices.

Domingo said that in the interest of evidence-based policy development and in line with emerging reports of vape-related injuries and illnesses in Europe and North America, all hospitals of the Department of Health (DOH) are required to immediately report similar cases. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the cases of five persons – in California, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Oregon – whose deaths were associated with e-cigarettes. 

The USCDC is also looking into 450 cases of lung ailments across 33 states that might have been caused by vaping. 

This developed as the Sin Tax Coalition and Action yesterday expressed alarm over such ENDS/ENNDS-related deaths as it stressed the need to protect the Filipinos from these harmful devices.

Maricar Limpin, Action on Smoking and Health executive director, said the cases in the US are proof that contrary to what the tobacco and vape companies have been marketing, vapor products pose significant hazards to  health, in the same way that traditional cigarettes do.

“This news must serve as an impetus to regulate the consumption of these products in the Philippines, to help limit the potential catastrophic health outcomes that come with their use,” Limpin said.