After the Food and Drug Administration banned Juul’s e-cigarettes in the United States on Thursday, the company filed an appeal for a temporary block a day later.
Driving the news: According to CNBC, the FDA said that the e-cigarette company gave “insufficient or conflicting data” on the possible risk of vaping Juul products.
In a statement, however, Juul argues that the company did provide sufficient evidence to the FDA.
What the FDA said: Dr. Robert M. Califf, the FDA commissioner, said that the agency only wants to ensure that the marketed products “meet our public health standards,” according to a press release.
- “We recognize these make up a significant part of the available products and many have played a disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping,” the commissioner added.
What Juul said: Joe Murillo, Juul’s chief regulatory officer, said the company chooses to “respectfully disagree” with the agency’s analysis and decision.
- “We intend to seek a stay and are exploring all of our options under the FDA’s regulations and the law,” Murillo said in a statement sent to NPR, “including appealing the decision and engaging with our regulator.”
Juul, in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asked to be allowed a stay until it can “file a motion for a stay pending review by Monday,” per CNBC.
The federal appeals court granted Juul’s request to stay the order until the court has time to hear further arguments on the case, per The Hill. The court noted that the temporary order doesn’t reflect the court’s decision on the subject.
Worth noting: The vape company currently has 1,000 employees, mostly in the U.S. and some in Canada, the U.K. and other countries. According to The New York Times, e-cigarettes were freely sold for more than a decade, without the need for FDA authorization, mainly because it did not fall under the agency’s purview.