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The lung damage in some people who have become ill after vaping nicotine or marijuana products resembles a chemical burn, doctors from the Mayo Clinic reported on Wednesday. ... “All 17 of our cases show a pattern of injury in the lung that looks like a toxic chemical exposure, a toxic chemical fume exposure, or a chemical burn injury,” said Dr. Brandon T. Larsen, a surgical pathologist at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz. “To be honest, they look like the kind of change you would expect to see in an unfortunate worker in an industrial accident where a big barrel of toxic chemicals spills, and that person is exposed to toxic fumes and there is a chemical burn in the airways.” (Grady, 10/2)

The results, based on lung biopsies from 17 patients from around the U.S., may help investigators narrow the long list of suspects in the mysterious outbreak that has sickened 805 people and killed at least 12. The study is among the first to examine a large group of biopsies from patients with lung injuries linked to vaping nicotine or THC, the ingredient in marijuana that produces a high. (Langreth, 10/2)

The study did not provide any clues as to the kind of chemicals that might be causing the condition, but the authors said signs of damage were consistent. ... Health officials have said that many people suffering from the condition have been vaping cartridges acquired from informal sources like dealers or friends. It’s possible that a contaminant or additive could be the culprit, though experts are still not certain that’s the case. (Joseph, 10/2)

New research from Mayo Clinic suggests that the nation’s outbreak of vaping-related lung injuries is due to people inhaling toxic substances — akin to workers who breathe fumes from chemical spills, or World War I soldiers exposed to mustard gas. The finding by Mayo’s consulting pathology lab in Arizona is based on a first-ever examination of 17 biopsies of patients with vaping-associated lung injuries. While the role of chemical inhalation might sound obvious, the finding is important because it contradicts a popular theory that these cases were caused by oil or lipid contamination in the lungs. (Olson, 10/2)

Banning the sale of vapes and their accouterments — as the governor of Massachusetts ordered temporarily — may send a clear warning message, but it doesn’t mean that those who are already addicted know how to quit. E-cigarettes might have been viewed as a way of giving up the old-fashioned equivalent, but it turns out the newfangled version can be just as hard, if not harder, to quit. (Boodman, 10/3)

As the Food and Drug Administration’s plan to restrict the e-cigarette industry takes shape, driven by a spate of vaping-related illnesses, cigarette sales aren’t yet reflecting smokers’ concerns that vapes might not be the safer alternative to traditional smoking that marketing campaigns were built around. Sales trends for the past month, including the period since the FDA’s Sept. 11 announcement that it would pursue a ban on flavored vapes, suggest that the combustible cigarette market has yet to see a boost in demand following the Centers for Disease Control’s public health warnings about vaping. (Sircar, 10/2)