In his first remarks to staff at the US’ Food and Drug Administration, the new commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, signaled an openness to electronic cigarettes that might hint at a future weakening of the Obama-era rule that clamped down on the industry driving the development of these products, according to a story by Dan Diamond for Politico.
“We need to have the science base to explore the potential to move current smokers — unable or unwilling to quit — to less harmful products, if they can’t quit altogether,” Gottlieb was reported to have said on Monday.
Gottlieb did not mention electronic cigarettes directly, but his comments echoed proponents’ arguments that such products can be a stepdown from traditional tobacco cigarettes.
However, Diamond said that critics were saying that the reality was less rosy, without explaining why they thought this way.
The FDA announced last week that it was delaying aspects of a rule that aimed to regulate electronic cigarettes as traditional cigarettes.