FDA issues ban on sale of Vuse Alto e-cigarettes

Vuse Alto ban overview: 

• Who: Six Vuse Alto brand e-cigarettes have been banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 
• Why: The six banned brands were not proven to be appropriate for public health or have an added benefit for adults that outweighed the known risks to youth.
• Where: Notice of the Vuse Alto ban came from the FDA’s Washington, D.C. office.

Six Vuse Alto brand e-cigarette varieties have been banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after the group determined they were not appropriate for public health and don’t have an added benefit for adults that outweighed the known risks to youth.

The ban applies to three menthol-flavored and three mixed berry-flavored e-cigarettes with each flavor having three different nicotine strengths. The FDA marketing denial orders mean that the R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company cannot market or distribute the six varieties in the United States or the company would risk FDA action.

“We review each application on its own merits, and it’s the responsibility of the applicant to provide sufficient science to support the product they’re seeking to market,” said Matthew Farrelly, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products’ Office of Science. “If an application contained sufficient scientific evidence to meet the necessary public health standard, including a non-tobacco-flavored product, we’d authorize the product. But such evidence was lacking in this case.”

The company will be allowed to submit new applications in the future to attempt to have the products approved. 

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The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires that products prove they are appropriate for the protection of the public health before they can be approved to be marketed and sold.

The submission didn’t prove the six new products provided an added benefit for adults who smoke cigarettes, in terms of complete switching or significant smoking reduction, that outweighed the risk to youth, the FDA ruled.

Vuse is the most commonly sold e-cigarette brand in the U.S. and Vuse Alto is the most popular sub-brand, the FDA said. Vuse has other approved flavors including the tobacco-flavored Vuse Vibe and Vuse Ciro devices and cartridges, the FDA said.

RJ Reynolds Vapor Co. faced a 2015 false advertising class action lawsuit in California federal court claiming it failed to warn consumers that electronic cigarettes (or e-cigs) still contain carcinogens.

Have you ever purchased Vuse Alto e-cigarettes? Let us know in the comments.

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