P3 Pharmacy magazine recently published an article written by our Healthcare Regulatory Lawyer, Susan Hunneyball.
Read the full article below.
“Solicitor Susan Hunneyball reviews the legal situation with regard to vaping products, in the light of new official advice and two potential deaths.
A BBC report in January that there had been two deaths potentially relating to vape products in the UK over the last year is clearly not in pandemic territory. However, it is concerning – not least because of our lack of knowledge about the specific cause of the problem.
The BBC’s article was tied in with advice sent out from Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to healthcare professionals about how to report cases of suspected e-cigarette or vaping product associated lung injuries (EVALI).
There will now be concerns about how effective the reporting will be, given the Covid-19 emergency. Healthcare professionals currently have a lot to deal with, but EVALI notification is triggered by patients with a history of e-cigarette use presenting with respiratory symptoms.
How big is the problem?
UK concern followed reports of deaths across the Atlantic. While cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death, killing 480,000 people in the US each year – that’s nearly one in five deaths – the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that as of 18 February, there have been 68 deaths attributable to EVALI. The US cases show links with Vitamin E acetate or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained in the vaped liquids. These links are not reported in the UK deaths, where THC is a controlled drug and Vitamin E acetate, along with other vitamins, is not permitted in the e-cigarettes covered by UK legislation.
Both the NHS and Public Health England (PHE) support the use of vaping over smoking. In 2015, PHE estimated vaping was 95 per cent less harmful than smoking, and research continues to investigate the benefits. The Government has an ambitious policy of being “smoke free” – defined as 5 percent or less of the adult population being smokers – by 2030. Current projections suggest it is likely to miss that target, so there may be a further public policy push for smokers to turn to vaping.
The law today
Nicotine containing e-cigarettes and e-liquids have been regulated since the introduction of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations which came into force in May 2016. The regulations:
Other tobacco related legislation also prohibits the sale of e- cigarettes (nicotine inhaling products) to the under 18s. This provision is aimed at sellers. Breaches can lead to fines, and persistent breaches to restrictions on sellers. There is an exception, important for pharmacy, where the nicotine inhaling product is a medicinal product or device and the supply doesn’t breach the Human Medicines Regulations.
The legislation does have a gap. Tobacco and nicotine products that are out of the scope of regulation (such as disposable e-cigarettes that do not contain nicotine and 0% nicotine e-liquids) do not have to meet the requirements.
The Yellow Card Scheme now covers e-cigarette reporting, and it includes the e-liquids used for vaping. There is a specific e-cigarette reporting tool for the electronic scheme. Yellow card reports can be made for products that do not contain tobacco.
Next steps
The jury is still out on the mechanism of vaping deaths apart, that is, from the man in Texas who was killed after an e-cigarette he used exploded in his face and tore his carotid artery causing a massive stroke. Further research may provide detailed answers, but it is bound to be affected if reporting drops because of Covid-19.
The current level of regulation is not intrusive but may not go far enough as it covers only tobacco products. Research will need to lead the way in establishing whether regulation should be extended to all e-cigarette products. Even then, policymakers will have a conflict of interest to navigate if it is considered that additional regulation means smokers are less likely to switch to vaping.”
About the Author
Healthcare Regulatory Lawyer
D.D: 01483 366064
Tel: 01483 451900
Email: susan@gordonsols.co.uk
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_GRECAPTCHA | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
elementor | never | This cookie is used by the website's WordPress theme. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__cf_bm | 30 minutes | Cloudflare set the cookie to support Cloudflare Bot Management. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
ypsession | 1 month | Yumpu sets this cookie to store a unique ID string for each chatbox session. This allows website support to see previous issues and reconnect with the previous supporter. |
yumpu_slc | 7 days | Yumpu sets this cookie to determine the preferred language and country setting of the visitor. This allows the website to show content most relevant to that region and language. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_ga_* | 1 year 1 month 4 days | Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views. |
_ga_6K1Y9P2WGY | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gat_gtag_UA_* | 1 minute | Google Analytics sets this cookie to store a unique user ID. |
_gat_gtag_UA_133165545_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gat_UA-* | 1 minute | Google Analytics sets this cookie for user behaviour tracking. |
_gat_UA-133165545-1 | 1 minute | A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. |
_gcl_au | 3 months | Provided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
CONSENT | 2 years | YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. |
vuid | 2 years | Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Google DoubleClick IDE cookies store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads according to the user profile. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. |
YSC | session | YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. |
yt-remote-connected-devices | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
yt-remote-device-id | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
yt.innertube::nextId | never | This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
yt.innertube::requests | never | This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
AVPUID | 1 year | No description available. |
SESSION | session | Description is currently not available. |
ypsitetrack | 1 year | Description is currently not available. |