# Gottlieb resigns from FDA



## Hooked (10/3/19)

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb resigned yesterday after less than two years on the job, and will leave office next month. In January, Gottlieb denied that he was quitting the job, telling his Twitter followers, “I want to be very clear – I’m not leaving. We’ve got a lot important policy we’ll advance this year. I look forward to sharing my 2019 strategic roadmap soon.”

Gottlieb is well known to vapers, both for postponing the 2018 deadline for FDA marketing approval — which saved the industry from certain death — and later for legitimizing the coordinated attacks on JUUL that have led to a nationwide moral panic over teenage vaping.

Gottlieb announced in July 2017 that the FDA would launch an initiative that would reduce the nicotine in cigarettes below addictive levels, and at the same time encourage smokers to switch to e-cigarettes and other safer nicotine products. For the first time, Americans heard an FDA commissioner admit that vapor products could have a public health benefit.

Rumors are swirling in D.C. over the resignation, including one story that Gottlieb was forced out of office after conservative groups pressured the White House to reject his proposed ban on flavored vaping products in convenience stores. He has also recently been pilloried on the floor of the Senate by North Carolina Republican Richard Burr, a longtime tobacco industry ally, who objected to Gottlieb’s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes.

But Gottlieb denied the rumors and instead cited personal reasons. 

He told the Times he will remain in office long enough to advance his c-store flavor ban, and other tobacco regulatory initiatives that are in the pipeline. That could include e-liquid flavor regulations, which the FDA has been considering for about seven months. Prohibition of most flavors could kill the independent vaping industry."

https://vaping360.com/vape-news/774...m-fda-the-future-of-vaping-remains-uncertain/

Reactions: Like 3 | Informative 2


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## RichJB (15/3/19)

Gottlieb's successor has been named: Ned Sharpless, current head of the National Cancer Institute. He seems to have much the same views as Gottlieb, meaning that the FDA will continue to crack down on flavours and teen vaping specifically.

In addition, President Trump has announced that vaping will be taxed via "user fees" to the tune of $100m per annum. The fees pay for regulation and education campaigns. It's similar to the fees levied on the tobacco industry, which currently account for just over $600m per annum. So not much good news for US vapers, alas.

Reactions: Informative 2


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