Prescription for e-cigs in the UK

E-cigarettes (e-cigs) could soon be prescribed as medicinal products on the UK's National Health Service (NHS), after UK Government Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced, on Oct 29, 2021, that manufacturers of these controversial products can submit their products to the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), to go through the same regulatory approvals process as other medicines available on the NHS. To facilitate this, the MHRA will publish updated guidance to allow medicinally licensed e-cig products to be prescribed for tobacco smokers who wish to quit smoking. Tobacco industry capitalises on the COVID-19 pandemicThe COVID-19 pandemic does not seem to have done much damage to the tobacco industry. “Beyond disruption to supply chains, analysts believe the short-term impact of COVID-19 on the tobacco industry will be relatively limited”, states British American Tobacco (BAT) on their website. They add that “it is likely that key cigarette volumes were only slightly lower than expected in 2020”. Having started the year by worrying about reduced consumption and stock shortages occasioned by factory closures, by the end of 2020 the major tobacco firms were raising their sales and profit targets. Full-Text PDF US FDA delays decision on Juul and other leading e-cigarette brandsThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) failed to meet a court-ordered Sept 9, 2021, deadline to decide whether or not to remove leading e-cigarette products from the market. The agency announced it had denied more than 946 000 marketing applications for other flavoured electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products and was working “expeditiously” on the remaining submissions. Those included brands that dominate the US market, like those sold by tobacco company owned Juul Labs and Vuse. Full-Text PDF