Flavored E-Cigarettes and Adolescent Health

Pediatricians have seen firsthand their patients struggle with nicotine addiction due to e-cigarette use and are now calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take strong action to curb youth use of these addictive products. A white paper led by Jonathan Winickoff, MD, MPH, pediatrician at Mass General for Children and director of Pediatric Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Tobacco Research & Treatment Center, and endorsed by pediatricians and pediatric tobacco control experts from across the nation summarizes the serious, continued threat flavored tobacco products cause to youth and describes the deliberate product design and marketing tactics used by e-cigarette companies to make their products more appealing to children and adolescents.

Swift action is needed to address e-cigarette use among young people. Winickoff and his co-authors here offer critical recommendations, including marketing restrictions and flavored tobacco product bans, that have been endorsed by more than 200 U.S. pediatricians to protect children from the dangers of e-cigarettes.