Electronic cigarette company Juul will be able to continue selling in the United States after a federal appeals court agreed to temporarily block a ban issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Earlier this week, the FDA announced Juul must stop selling both its vaping device and its tobacco and menthol flavoured cartridges amid an effort to bring scientific scrutiny to the vaping industry.
It comes after Juul previously submitted an application with information and data it claims addressed the FDA's issues surrounding e-cigarettes, with the government organisation saying companies must be able to show their products benefit public health in order to be sold.
The FDA argued Juul's application offering gave insufficient or conflicting data about the potential risks of using its products.
Announcing the its ban this week, FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D., commented: “Today’s action is further progress on the FDA’s commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards... We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.”
The day after the FDA's order, Juul filed an emergency motion on Friday (24 June) seeking the temporary hold to give it time to appeal the ban. The company described the ban as 'extraordinary and unlawful action' and argued it had submitted the 125,000-page application about its products to the FDA nearly two years ago, but that it had been denied despite the fact the FDA authorised applications by competitors with similar products.
According to NPR, the company said the application included several studies that looked at the health risks among its customers, and argued the FDA could not claim there was a 'critical and urgent public interest' in issuing the ban when the agency allowed them to be sold during its review.
In a statement on the matter, Juul commented: “FDA’s decision is arbitrary and capricious and lacks substantial evidence, and an immediate administrative stay is critical to protect [Juul Labs Inc.], its commercial partners and its customers."
Juul is a top seller of e-cigarettes in the US, though it took a hit after being blamed a few years ago for a surge in underage vaping.
The company's request for the ban was granted by a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Juul's chief regulatory officer, Joe Murillo, said in a statement on Thursday that the company is exploring its options in relation to the ban, which include appealing the decision or engaging directly with the FDA.
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Emily Brown