Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court Sides With FDA Over Flavored Vape Application Denials
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a lower-court ruling that had found the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted unlawfully in denying two electronic cigarette companies permission to sell flavored vaping products, which regulators view as a health risk to young people. Newsweek reached out to the FDA by submission form on Wednesday for comment. (Whisnant and Aitken, 4/2)
On CBD and tobacco use —
The Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for a truck driver to sue the company that sold him a cannabidiol, or CBD, product that he says led to him getting fired after testing positive for THC. In a 5-4 ruling, the justices upheld an appeals court decision that allowed Douglas Horn to take legal action against Medical Marijuana Inc., under a landmark federal law that is better known as a tool used by prosecutors to target organized crime. (Jouvenal, 4/2)
The tobacco center at the Food and Drug Administration has drawn criticism from all sides in recent years. Tobacco opponents said it wasn’t doing enough to crack down on sales of illegal e-cigarettes and stop young people from vaping. Harm-reduction groups saw top tobacco regulator Brian King as a stubborn foe of products that could help people quit smoking. And the vaping industry itself complained the FDA had rejected 99% of the more than 27 million applications it had received without providing detailed product standards. (Todd, 4/3)
In other health and wellness news —
Fifty years ago, life expectancy in the U.S. and wealthy European countries was relatively similar. That began to change around 1980. As European life expectancy steadily increased, the U.S. struggled to keep pace — and its life expectancy even began declining in 2014. Today, the wealthiest middle-aged and older adults in the U.S. have roughly the same likelihood of dying over a 12-year period as the poorest adults in northern and western Europe, according to a study published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. (Bendix, 4/2)
More than 200 luxury cruise ship passengers caught norovirus on a monthlong transatlantic voyage that won't officially end until Sunday, U.S. health officials said. A new outbreak report from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention tracked 224 of 2,538 passengers who became ill from the virus while on board the Cunard cruise line ship Queen Mary 2, along with 17 crew members. The vessel carried 1,232 crew overall, according to the CDC. (Mae Czachor, 4/2)
