WASHINGTON – Even some of the nation’s top tobacco experts were surprised by the Food and Drug Administration’s stated rationale for pulling Juul off the market: It said it had concerns about the company’s toxicology data.
Some of the FDA’s statements hinted at the potential for public health concerns with Juul products. The agency noted, for example, that Juul hadn’t adequately answered the FDA’s questions about its worry that caustic chemicals could leach from the company’s proprietary pods.
But STAT spoke with several tobacco regulatory experts about the FDA’s issues with Juul — and they said the full picture might not be so straightforward. All said they needed to know more about the company’s data to discern just how large a public health risk the company’s products might actually pose.
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