Vape lung injuries double in Massachusetts as shop owners join federal suit
The number of people with vaping-related lung injuries has now doubled, the state health department reported Monday, as more shop owners take to the courts to challenge the vape ban.
“While no one has pinpointed the exact cause of this outbreak of illness, we do know that vaping and e-cigarettes are the common thread and are making people sick,” Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel said in a statement.
Massachusetts doctors, under a state mandate to immediately report unexplained lung injuries related to vaping, found five new cases — two confirmed, three probable — bringing the statewide total to 10. To date, 83 suspected vaping-associated pulmonary cases have been reported to DPH since Sept. 11.
Meanwhile, two more vape shops have signed on to a lawsuit, filed by Saugus-based attorney Craig Rourke, to lift the four-month ban on vapes implemented by Gov. Charlie Baker last week. Massachusetts became the first state to prohibit vaping products, with Baker declaring a public health crisis citing the multistate outbreak of “severe lung disease.”
A spokesman for the governor’s office declined to comment on the pending lawsuit, which names Baker, Bharel and the state as defendants, but said, “The administration will continue to work with medical experts and federal and state officials to better understand why vaping is causing lung-related illnesses and consider all options as next steps.”
Because the Food and Drug Administration has been regulating these products since 2016, Rourke argues that Baker is “interfering,” with the federal government’s ability to enforce “well-established protocols,” and he is now seeking relief from the federal court. Rourke added that the ban interferes in the ability of retailers and wholesalers to do business across state lines.
“The governor’s declaration was arbitrary and capricious. It denied all these people the opportunity, the notice to be heard,” Rourke said.
The owners of Boston Vapor LLC and Vick’s Vape Shop in Medford joined the suit along with Behram Agha, owner of Vapor Zone in Danvers. It was filed with the federal court Sunday.
Jeff and Linda Vick, both former smokers, spent their life savings to start the business and help other people quit with e-cigarettes almost three years ago. Now they’re worried that their customers might turn to the black market for potentially dangerous vape oils or regress to traditional cigarettes.
“For over a decade, vaping has been around and no one’s gotten sick. All of a sudden people are getting sick,” store owner Jeff Vick told the Herald. “Baker and all the other people that are following suit and banning it are just getting paranoid. Without warning, without nothing, boom — you’re closed. How am I going to feed my family? Pay my rent? Pay my bills at the store? It’s just overwhelming.”
from Boston Herald https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/09/30/vape-lung-injuries-double-in-massachusetts-as-shop-owners-join-federal-suit/
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