20-22 people linked to health related vaping problems:

General The Pub
344

Washington Post (October 25, 2019):

“CDC: Most people who died from vaping-linked disease used products containing THC”

Most people who died from vaping-related injuries used products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, federal health officials said Friday, offering another data point tying the outbreak of lung illnesses to products made with that compound.

Based on data available from 860 of the 1,604 patients who have fallen ill with the disease, about 85 percent reported using THC-containing products, compared to about 10 percent who reported exclusively vaping nicotine-containing products, officials said. Many sick patients said they bought THC vape products on the black market, and those have come under increased scrutiny.

“The data do continue to point towards THC-containing products as the source of individuals’ injury,” said Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is leading the investigation. Officials don’t know what about the products are harmful, “but we’re seeing THC as a marker for products that are risky,” she said.

It is also becoming clearer that the surge in cases in recent months is not the result of better recognition of an existing disease, but “something riskier that is in much more frequent use,” she said. Schuchat cited the use of cutting agents that are added to THC-containing products to increase profit, and the increased availability of online videos that may have “skyrocketed” do-it-yourself instructions.

Note that CDC bullshit recently invented with an impressive sounding name …
… “EVALI” (“e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury”) …
… is now a (self-admitted) joke of an amorphous and vacuous travesty.

(For the truly paranoid): The Food and Drug Administration, which is testing more than 900 samples of products and devices, is also investigating the supply chain of potential illicit vaping products. FDA is working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at international mail facilities to trace how products entered the U.S. marketplace, said Mitch Zeller, director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. He declined to provide specifics.

.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported Friday that 81% of the people who were sickened by vapes in Michigan used products containing THC, also known as tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects.

Source: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/10/25/michigan-vape-related-lung-injury-deaths-flavored-vaping-ban/4071973002/

.

Just in time for all glory-swine policy makers to repent from their sinful bearings of false scientific witness !

Now that the machinations of grievous legislative damages are already well underway with an idiotic inertia.

Faithfully waiting to exhale … :clown_face:

5 Likes
345

On Morning Edition, NPR this morning. There was a brief report that had it right. I don’t have the quote, but it said that the majority of the vaping injuries reported were caused by vaping black market THC and CBD products and they warned people not to buy those types of products on the black market.

I’m thinking a new report has been released that has more accurate information. I don’t have time to hunt right now, just thought it was noteworthy to mention a truthful report on the NPR.

3 Likes
346

Wow! National Propaganda Radio of all things! That is amazing!!!

3 Likes
347

Dr Michael Siegel (October 30, 2019):

“Sales Data Show that Massachusetts Vaping Product Ban Has Already Caused Severe Harm as Vapers Migrate to Smoking in Large Numbers”

The state is justifying causing this known harm to the public’s health based solely on pure speculation that although 90% of outbreak cases admit to vaping THC purchased off the black market, store-bought e-cigarettes are causing a substantial proportion of these cases. This assumes that the 10% of case patients who didn’t report using THC:
(1) know exactly what the ingredients were in the products they used even though the vapes may have been given to them by friends or purchased off the street or the internet;
(2) know that the products are not counterfeit or tampered with; and
(3) are not under-reporting their THC use even though we know that a huge proportion of youth who present in emergency rooms do under-report their THC use to physicians.

These known negative health consequences are also occurring in the absence of any documentation that a substantial proportion of confirmed case patients who reported using nicotine-only products tested negative for THC in a urine drug screen. And furthermore, these known adverse health outcomes are occurring without any finding that a single nicotine-containing e-liquid sold by stores was contaminated with a chemical that could be causing the respiratory failure observed in outbreak case patients. …

… states that are banning e-cigarettes (or flavored e-cigarettes) are … knowingly causing substantial harm to the public’s health while producing no known benefits in terms of helping to curtail the outbreak. And, on top of this, they are likely going to make the outbreak worse.

.

Now that the CDC has copped to Cannabis derived products being the likely dominant cause, the FDA would like to hit a public relations “home run” justifying the Nicotine persecutions. As well, they have wanted to ban Menthol (across the board) for years. Mint flavors have been lobbied for as (also) evading a federal level vaping flavorings ban. The Feds seem to prefer to allow an ill-defined “tobacco flavor” or “unflavored” only.

They (may possibly, speculating) have found some ammo in the substance Pulegone, a constituent of oil extracts prepared from mint plants, including peppermint, spearmint and pennyroyal, is a carcinogen that causes hepatic carcinomas, pulmonary metaplasia, and other neoplasms on oral administration in rodents. In 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned synthetic pulegone as a food additive. Studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detected substantial amounts of pulegone in mint- and menthol-flavored e-cigarette liquids and smokeless tobacco products marketed in the United States. The tobacco industry has minimized pulegone levels in cigarette flavorings because of toxicity concerns. Mint- and menthol-flavored e-cigarettes may be exempt from proposed federal regs.

Source: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2751245

Informative articles about a (possibly Pulegone related) federal whistleblower lawsuit against Pax (JUUL):

If Federales can manage to compromise the Goliath Pax, then the smaller companies would likely be easier.

2 Likes
348

wtf is “contaminated”?

The lawsuit does not specify what the batches were allegedly contaminated with.

Big media at its worst again, first create a scare, cash in and then see how the story develops. And how come courts even accept cases that don’t even contain a clearly specified accusation?

edit:nvm, i guess it’s that pulegone substance they’re talking about.

1 Like
349

That is only personal speculation on my part (about the substance alleged to be in some manner at issue in the whistleblower complaint). At trial (perhaps sooner), more info may likely be known. Not clear at this time.

2 Likes
350

Toxicology

It was reported that the chemical is toxic to rats if a large quantity is consumed.[5][6]

Pulegone is also an insecticide − the most powerful of three insecticides naturally occurring in many mint species.[7]

As of October 2018, the FDA withdrew authorization for the use of pulegone as a synthetic flavoring substance for use in food, but that naturally-occurring pulegone can continue to be used.[8]

Doesn’t that mean that even if it is in vaping products, the consumption would be at such low levels that it wouldn’t be harmful? I dunno… sounds a lot like the media has found another scary vaping story. I don’t usually vape mint, but I’ll be watching this in any case.

1 Like
351

In these fact-free days of emotive and largely nonsensical legislators and bureaucrats, it (might) be that (if, as stated) the Tobacco manufacturers avoid the substance out of fear of condemnation (and/or liabilities), then such practices may alone (might) be argued as important. Published studies (such as the one cited) are pure public relations “gold” for the spin doctors - and interest (with likely not great scrutiny) will exist in the so-called “press”. Very little of the “speculative conclusions” being presented have substantive bases.

1 Like
352

Thank you. Thomas was 68 when he passed. He had diabetes problems that caused his death.

3 Likes
353

Dr Michael Siegel (November 3, 2019):

“CDC and State Health Departments are Wrong to Inform the Public that Some Case Patients Used Only Nicotine E-Liquids”

… the CDC and state health departments have deliberately been conflating the respiratory disease outbreak with the general problem of youth vaping … Because of the confusion they have created, a large number of state officials, health practitioners, and media outlets have been incorrectly reporting that a substantial proportion of the outbreak case patients used only nicotine-containing e-cigarettes. …

… It is not the case that 15% of case patients used only nicotine products. The evidence is actually that 15% (it’s now down to 11%) of case patients did not admit to using products other than nicotine-containing e-liquids. The difference between these claims might sound minor, but it has immense public health implications. …

… What the CDC and many state health department officials don’t seem to realize is that youth are not obtaining their vaping products by purchasing them at stores. They are mostly obtaining them from friends or school distributors, off the internet, or from street shops or dealers. For this reason, many youth vapers really have no way to know what is in their e-liquids. … even if a youth knows they are vaping THC oil, there is a strong incentive not to report it. …

… the CDC - until very recently - did not recommend that physicians conduct THC drug screens on patients, which ensured that it would not be possible to link all of the cases to the use of THC. To the best of my knowledge, the CDC has not confirmed a single outbreak case who tested negative for THC use.

… Youth are not vaping because they like flavors. They are vaping because they like vaping. Vaping is what’s cool, not the particular type of e-liquid that you are vaping.
Moreover, youth will vape whatever cartridges are being supplied by the kids who serve as the distribution channels in their schools. The majority of kids are not making autonomous decisions about what to vape. They are vaping what’s available. … banning flavors will do nothing to curtail the outbreak but may make it much worse. And it will likely lead to more serious problems in the future. …

… some patients may actually be using nicotine-containing products, but contaminated THC oils may still be the reason for their illness. This is because there are bootleg, adulterated, and counterfeit products on the market in which a nicotine e-liquid is mixed with THC oil. …

… We are still a long way from concluding that any cases of this outbreak have been caused by nicotine-only e-liquids and we are even further away from concluding that any cases have been caused by traditional nicotine-containing e-liquids sold by retail stores. In that light, bans on the sale of electronic cigarettes - even just flavored ones - are a terrible public policy that will do little to protect youth but will do a lot to put them at substantially higher risk of severe harm.

.

CDC (November 1, 2019):

“Update: Characteristics of Patients in a National Outbreak of E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use–Associated Lung Injuries - United States, October 2019”

As of October 22, 2019, a total of 1,604 cases of EVALI, including 34 deaths, were reported to CDC. Based on data collected as of Oct 15, use of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products in the 3 months preceding symptom onset was reported by 86% of patients. … Exclusive use of THC-containing products was reported by 34% of patients and exclusive use of nicotine-containing products by 11%, and for 2% of patients, no use of either THC- or nicotine-containing products was reported. … Because most patients reported using THC-containing products before symptom onset, CDC recommends that persons should not use e-cigarette, or vaping, products that contain THC. …

3 Likes
354

Oh boy, here we go again. Ambulance chasers are likely going to have “unctuous orgasms” over this one:

(Nov 7, 2019): “Tacoma man dies on his honeymoon; family blames vaping”

Outcalt-Arends was only a few days into a honeymoon trip with his new bride in Klamath Falls Oregon, according this his family. She was preparing food and heard noises from the bedroom. “She heard him gasping for air,” Robin Hurt said. “She went to the bedroom and found him unconscious and foaming from his mouth, and she threw him to the floor and began CPR.”

Doctors at Sky Lakes Medical Center told Hadynn’s family they’re studying his case, but they believe his death was related to vaping. Outcalt-Arends’ family believes he was vaping only tobacco, possibly with flavored juice.

.

(Nov 5, 2019): “Seattle Man Dies Suddenly After Vaping E-Cigarettes Purchased in Oregon”

(Nov 4, 2019): Same author - same article (with additional Washington State politics related text).

(Seattle Stranger, Nov 1 2019): “Flavor Ban Hits Vape Retailers Hard”

2 Likes
355

Washington Post (November 8, 2019):

“Potential culprit found in vaping-related lung injuries and deaths - CDC describes ‘breakthrough’ in finding vitamin E acetate in lung fluids of patients”

Federal health officials have identified vitamin E acetate in the lung fluids of 29 people sickened in the outbreak of dangerous vaping-related lung injuries. The discovery is a “breakthrough” that points to the oil as a likely culprit in the outbreak that has [sickened more than 2,000 people and killed at least 39, a top official said Friday.

These findings provide direct evidence of vitamin E acetate at the primary site of injury within the lungs,” said Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The latest findings point to growing evidence of vitamin E acetate as “a very strong culprit of concern.”

The findings announced Friday do not rule out other possible compounds or ingredients that may be causing the lung injuries. But Schuchat described the lab results as a “breakthrough” in the investigation. CDC tested for a wide range of substances that might be found in patients’ lung fluids, including plant oils and petroleum distillates, such as mineral oil. But, she said, “No other potential toxins were detected.”

CDC officials found vitamin E acetate, an oil derived from the vitamin, in all 29 samples of lung fluid collected from patients who had fallen ill or died from lung injuries. … The 29 patients are from 10 states, representing a diverse geographical area, making the findings “much more robust” than if all the patients were from a single location.

.

CDC (November 8, 2019):
“Evaluation of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid from Patients in an Outbreak of E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use - Associated Lung Injury - 10 States, August - October 2019”

.

Dr Michael Seigel (November 8, 2019):

“CDC Announces “Major Breakthrough” that I Recognized and Reported Two Months Ago; Outbreak is Almost Certainly Not Associated with Legal Nicotine Vapes”

This finding does represent a major breakthrough for four reasons:

1. The vitamin E acetate oil was detected in the actual lung tissue of the case patients.

2. The vitamin E acetate oil was detected in every single one of the lung tissue samples from these 29 case patients.

3. The samples came from 10 different states, confirming that the outbreak seems to have a common cause, rather than geographic variation.

4. Three of the patients whose lung samples revealed vitamin E acetate had reported using only nicotine-containing products, thus confirming that there is significant under-reporting which may explain why about 11% of the patients do not report vaping THC.

This is significant because although not all of the case patients admitted to using THC vapes, the finding of vitamin E acetate in their lungs essentially proves that they were indeed vaping THC oils. This does not mean that they were lying …

At this point, it is time for state policy makers and politicians to immediately discontinue their conflation of this outbreak with the problem of youth e-cigarette use. It is time for all policy makers, health agencies, and health professionals to immediately stop stating or implying that legal, nicotine-containing e-liquids have anything to do with the outbreak.

At this point, it is also clear that states which have issued emergency regulations to ban e-cigarettes or flavored e-cigarettes are not justified in using their emergency powers for this purpose since it is almost assuredly the case that those store-bought products have nothing to do with the outbreak.

.

I’ve got one thing to say to these phony scrambled-eggs festooned ass-clowns at CDC/FDA - drop dead.

CDC = Centers for Disease Cockups and Pretension :exploding_head:

4 Likes
356

I think is an article that NEEDS to be read. It’s long BUT read to the bottom because I was really angry https://www.leafly.com/news/health/toxic-vaping-vapi-evali-lung-injury-rise-and-fall-of-vitamin-e-oil-honey-cut

4 Likes
357

The CDC Misinformation campaign train is still rolling, this information about “vaping” has nothing to do with the vaping and e liquid consumption I participate in…

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html

preposterously Updated February 25, 2020, at 1:00 PM EST the article lumps all vapor use into the THC pod’s wherein someone mixed Vitamin E Acetate probably because they may have thought it would make their THC pod more healthy.

towards the end of the article there are several links to help stop smoking that do not mention vaping as a miraculous and true working smoking cessation method. Although they are pretending to be busy with CoV2 you can message them with this form if you want to help advise them to correct the errors on their disinformation.

1 Like
358

What We Know

About the Outbreak:

  • As of February 18, 2020 , a total of 2,807 hospitalized EVALI cases or deaths have been reported to CDC from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands).
  • Emergency department (ED) visits related to e-cigarette, or vaping, products continue to decline, after sharply increasing in August 2019 and peaking in September.
    • National ED data and active case reporting from state health departments around the country show a sharp rise in symptoms or cases of EVALI in August 2019, a peak in September 2019, and a gradual, but persistent decline since then.
    • Reasons for the decline are likely multifactorial and may be related to the following:
      • Increased public awareness of the risk associated with THC-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, product use as a result of the rapid public health response.
      • Removal of vitamin E acetate from some products.
      • Law enforcement actions related to illicit products.
  • Laboratory data show that vitamin E acetate, an additive in some THC-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products, is strongly linked to the EVALI outbreak.
    • A recent studyexternal icon analyzed samples from 51 EVALI cases from 16 states and a comparison group of samples from 99 comparison individuals without EVALI for vitamin E acetate, plant oils, medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, coconut oil, petroleum distillates, and diluent terpenes.
    • Vitamin E acetate was identified in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid samples (fluid samples collected from the lungs) from 48 of the 51 EVALI patients, but not in the BAL fluid from the healthy comparison group.
    • No other toxicants were found in BAL fluid from either group, except for coconut oil and limonene (1 EVALI patient each).
  • Due to continued declines in new EVALI cases since September 2019, and the identification of vitamin E acetate as a primary cause of EVALI, today’s release is the final CDC update on the number of hospitalized EVALI cases and deaths nationally. CDC will continue to provide assistance to states, as needed, related to EVALI and will provide any updates at: www.cdc.gov/lunginjury.
1 Like
359

I guess theiy’re getting it, almost ?

1 Like
360

The legitimate (and worthwhile to read) Dr Michael Siegel published criticisms on January 26, 2020:

“CDC is Concealing and Suppressing Information on Youth Marijuana Vaping
to Over-hype Harms of E-Cigarettes”

… the CDC is concealing and suppressing critical health data on youth marijuana use, apparently in an attempt to over-hype the harms of e-cigarettes. This is causing significant adverse public health consequences. Unless heath practitioners and agencies understand that the problem of youth vaping is not solely a problem of youth e-cigarette use, they will be unable to craft an effective policy to protect the health of our nation’s youth.

1 Like
361

I’ll bet some health nut making THC carts decided it would be healthy if he squeezed some vitamin E gelcap into the cartridge. The way they present it though is that I (and everyone) does that to e liquid for e-cigarettes. :nauseated_face:
They are not getting it.

1 Like
362

IIRC, there was a (rather, perhaps vanishingly) small number of cases in the FDA testing in Summer 2019 of samples from folks in treatment where some CBD and/or THC was alleged to have been found - in what the users had understood and represented to ostensibly (only) Nicotine containing e-juice.

Such behaviors are (well established) modus operandi of the CDC - when they are (in truth) pursuing an alleged so-called “moral” (as opposed to actual intellectually honest, physiologically or toxicologic-ally based) “hazards”. The CDC (in sum, in this century since 2000) has evolved into arrogant, glory-hungry, and speciously disingenuous “political animals”, will to follow any “master” offering compelling enough gruel (or, as today, allowing their silencing regarding COVID-19). “Therapeutic Surveillance State”.

.

(Dr Michael Siegel, October 22, 2019):

“New CDC Report Out Today Makes it Even Less Likely that Store-Bought Nicotine E-Cigarettes are Playing Any Role in the Outbreak”

… there were no contaminants found in any of the nicotine e-liquids tested, while it appears that vitamin E acetate oil was detected in THC cartridges used by every THC-using case patient from whom product was obtained. This is consistent with the reported results from testing in New York State and nationally. So far, vitamin E acetate oil has been present in most of the THC vape cartridges recovered and no contaminants have been detected in any of the nicotine e-liquids tested. …

… one of the e-liquids samples recovered from a Utah patient contained both nicotine and THC, suggesting that a nicotine e-liquid had been adulterated with THC oil.

So there you go, CosmicTruth, (so far) we read about one single case of Nic-juice contamination !

.

(Dr Michael Siegel, December 22, 2019):

“Newest CDC Data Confirm that Respiratory Disease Outbreak
was Caused by Vitamin E Acetate Oil in THC Vaping Cartridges”

CDC had tested lung fluids from 29 of the case patients. All 29 contained vitamin E acetate. This past Thursday, CDC reported the results of testing of 51 probable or confirmed case patients from 16 states. Vitamin E acetate was detected in 48 (94%) of the case patients.

Importantly, the three cases in which vitamin E acetate was not detected were not confirmed cases, and each had other potential explanations for their illnesses. One had a multi-drug overdose, one had a fungal infection, and one may have had a bacterial lung infection. The most critical finding of the study was that 9 out of 11 patients who denied having used THC were found to have THC in their lung fluids.

Overall, every single confirmed case patient (100%) had vitamin E acetate detected in their lung fluids. The investigators tested lung fluids from 99 healthy people, including 18 e-cigarette users, and none had vitamin E acetate detected. In addition, they did not find vitamin E acetate in any of the nicotine-containing e-liquids tested.

1 Like
363

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AlarmedHarmlessLamprey-size_restricted.gif

We’re serving it up @CosmicTruth

https://www.ackertadvisory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/man-holding-silver-platter.jpg

1 Like