The country’s largest e-cigarette maker is halting all of its advertising and switching to new management, as federal and state health officials investigate a nationwide outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and deaths.
Juul Labs CEO Kevin Burns announced his decision to step down Wednesday, to be replaced by K.C. Crosthwaite, a senior executive of Altria, the Marlboro cigarette maker that has a $13 billion stake in the e-cigarette company.
“Working at Juul Labs has been an honor and I still believe the company’s mission of eliminating combustible cigarettes is vitally important. I am very proud of my team’s efforts to lead the industry toward much needed category-wide action to tackle underage usage of these products, which are intended for adult smokers only,” Mr. Burns said in a written statement.
San Francisco-based Juul also said Wednesday it would not lobby against a federal ban of non-tobacco flavored e-cigarette products proposed by the Trump administration earlier this month.
Mr. Crosthwaite, Juul’s incoming chief executive, is said to be a regulatory affairs expert with two decades of experience.
“I have long believed in a future where adult smokers overwhelmingly choose alternative products like Juul,” Mr. Crosthwaite said. “Unfortunately, today that future is at risk due to unacceptable levels of youth usage and eroding public confidence in our industry.”
Juul is facing multiple investigations from Congress and state attorneys general. Both the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration are investigating the e-cigarette company’s marketing practices. The FDA this month accused Juul of illegally advertising its products as “modified risk tobacco products” without approval.
Also on Wednesday, Rhode Island’s governor signed an executive order to ban the sale of flavored vaping products in the state. On Tuesday, Massachusetts officials announced they will halt sales of all vaping products for four months, the first state in the country to propose such a sweeping ban.
Officials in Michigan and New York already have moved to ban flavored e-cigarettes.
Meanwhile, health investigators are looking into hundreds of cases of vaping-related lung injuries. More than 530 cases have been reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including nine deaths.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that she expects to see much higher numbers of vaping-related illnesses and deaths.
The cause of the lung injuries is unknown, but all victims have reported using vaping products before hospitalization. The CDC is expected to release updated case counts Thursday.
Law enforcement officials in Minnesota, where a vaping-related death has been reported, said Tuesday they had seized 75,000 vaping cartridges that they believed came from out of state. Investigators are examining black market products in their search for the cause behind the vaping-related illnesses.
Amid concerns over vaping, Altria and Philip Morris International (PMI), a multinational tobacco company, said Wednesday that merger talks are off the table. Instead, the companies are going to focus on launching a tobacco-heating device called IQOS.
“It is hard to determine why the merger talks between PMI and Altria broke down. It is certainly possible that the huge cascade of bad press and international distribution issues Juul has faced could have played a role,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, referring to India’s ban on e-cigarettes and intervention by the Chinese government to stop Juul sales.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said Juul’s management shake-up strips away any doubt of what the company is: “Big Tobacco.”
“Juul created the worsening youth e-cigarette epidemic, and today’s announcement makes it more important than ever that policy makers take forceful action to stop it by banning flavored e-cigarettes,” the campaign said. “Juul’s announcement today is aimed at repairing its image and protecting its profits, not at solving this crisis.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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