An official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sept. 24 told a congressional subcommittee to expect more cases of injury and death associated with vaping.
"We are seeing more cases each day," Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, told members of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. "I expect the next weekly numbers will be much higher."
There were 530 cases of lung injuries and seven deaths associated with e-cigarette use in the U.S. as of Sept. 19, according to the CDC. At least two additional deaths have been reported: one in Kansas, the state’s second fatality, announced Sept. 23, and another in Missouri announced Sept. 19.
"We are hearing about more deaths ... and we do expect more," Schuchat told subcommittee members.
The CDC has not linked the outbreak of vaping-relating injuries and deaths to a single product or substance, Schuchat said.
Schuchat testified before the same subcommittee that threatened to subpoena Juul Labs Inc. if the market-leading e-cigarette maker fails to share documents related to its products and marketing tactics.
Juul and related products use nicotine salts, which allow greater nicotine concentration and can potentially have more effect on the developing brain in adolescents, Schuchat said.
Juul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Public health officials in the U.S. and beyond have begun taking a more skeptical view of vaping. The Trump administration announced plans to clear the market of most flavored e-cigarette products, and India approved a ban on e-cigarettes. China also plans to impose controls on e-cigarette devices.
The House Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce is due to hold a separate hearing on health risks from e-cigarettes on Sept. 25.
