Senator Demands FDA Testify Before Congress

After months of pressure from lawmakers to prevent the unauthorized sale of vaping devices, federal regulators may soon have to explain themselves before Congress.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has long urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to follow through on a court-ordered review of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) from e-cigarette manufacturers.

The U.S. Court for the District of Maryland mandated the survey, ruling in 2019 that the FDA had run afoul of federal law by allowing unauthorized vape sales. The review was supposed to have been completed in 2021, according to Court House News.

Durbin, in a January letter, accused the agency of “granting a free pass to scores of vaping products that are harming the health of children in our country.”

Now, Durbin is angling to haul FDA officials before Congress. He demanded in a letter Tuesday that Brian King, director of the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products, testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Durbin extended a similar invite to Brian Boynton, principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division. Federal law enforcement is tasked with assisting the FDA in bringing enforcement for violations of the Tobacco Control Act, which includes marketing authorizations for vape manufacturers.

Durbin met with Boynton and King in April during a private meeting to discuss the enforcement of unauthorized e-cigarettes. If the officials agree to testify publicly, the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing in June.

A spokesperson for the FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it would comply with the request.