“Beyond Nicotine”: Tobacco Joins Hands With Pharma.

BY MIKE MAGEE Connecticut attorney general, William Tong, took a turn in the spotlight this week, representing 33 states and Puerto Rico in announcing that vaping original, Juul, had agreed to pay penalties of $438.5 million to settle lawsuits against the company. Juul in essence acknowledged that the company’s marketers had targeted young students, used social media to attract underage teens, and had given them free samples. With 45% of the company’s Twitter followers between ages 13 and 17, and an age verification methodology authorities label as “porous”, they were happy to get the nation’s attorney generals out of their hair. Over the past four years, Juul has lost over 95% of its value. When Altria bought a 35% stake in the company in December, 2018, they paid $12.8 billion. That translates to just $450 million today. What were they thinking? At the time, Juul was fighting to preserve their “flavor pods” – with mango and creme brûlée a favorite among teens.  But the F.D.A. took a hard line, attempting to shut them down completely, attacking vaporized natural and synthetic nicotine. Lobbyists for Altria and Juul argued that they had helped 2 million Americans quit traditional cigarettes. That was enough to gain a “temporary reprieve”, sending the F.D.A. back to the drawing board for “additional review.” By the way, local and state campaigns to curb teen vaping seem to have had an effect. E-cigarette use in a survey in ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Pharmaceuticals The Business of Health Care Mike Magee tobacco Source Type: blogs