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On the FDA and its new born quins
Posted by
hifistud
,
10 September 2010
·
60 views
They wouldn't listen, would they?
The news has broken - the FDA has gone after five businesses all e-cig vendors of one type or another. The common factor? Each had either directly or indirectly claimed that their products had an intended purpose of smoking cessation.
One had also been daft enough to try to retail e-juice containing tadalafil - ciallis, to you and me - which patently is a medicine. OK, ok, I know its use is primarily to aid recreation (and it works enormously well - well, the pills do. Don't ask, I won't tell), but it's still a prescription drug. That particular one is a no-brainer, in all senses.
But the smoking cessation claims? It's not like these five vendors hadn't been told, often enough, that such a claim is a big no-no. Countless times, that's how many times they were told. On just about every forum you can mention. And other places.
But no. Their ears were shut, and now the birds have come home to roost.
Now, there's a lesson here. UK vendors need to look very carefully at their own web sites. It is not enough to scribe a disclaimer at the bottom of every page. Any and all references to quitting the demon weed in testimonials and fora needs to be eradicated immediately, if not sooner, because EU law also enshrines the same "perception of intended use" clauses that the FDA in the US has used to knobble these five businesses.
It may already be too late - the MHRA may already have all the evidence it needs to use the perceived intended use clauses. Or, hopefully, it may have missed them and not sought the evidence out.
But the FDA's actions, aside from scaring the pants off our transatlantic cousins, do underline the need we, in the UK, have, to be vigilant and to make sure that there is no way such accusations can be levelled at our vendors and suppliers.
So, if you're a vendor, check your site. If you're a user, please, please, don't post to vendor forums extolling the virtues of e-cigs as a quitting device. It won't do anyone any favours.
The news has broken - the FDA has gone after five businesses all e-cig vendors of one type or another. The common factor? Each had either directly or indirectly claimed that their products had an intended purpose of smoking cessation.
One had also been daft enough to try to retail e-juice containing tadalafil - ciallis, to you and me - which patently is a medicine. OK, ok, I know its use is primarily to aid recreation (and it works enormously well - well, the pills do. Don't ask, I won't tell), but it's still a prescription drug. That particular one is a no-brainer, in all senses.
But the smoking cessation claims? It's not like these five vendors hadn't been told, often enough, that such a claim is a big no-no. Countless times, that's how many times they were told. On just about every forum you can mention. And other places.
But no. Their ears were shut, and now the birds have come home to roost.
Now, there's a lesson here. UK vendors need to look very carefully at their own web sites. It is not enough to scribe a disclaimer at the bottom of every page. Any and all references to quitting the demon weed in testimonials and fora needs to be eradicated immediately, if not sooner, because EU law also enshrines the same "perception of intended use" clauses that the FDA in the US has used to knobble these five businesses.
It may already be too late - the MHRA may already have all the evidence it needs to use the perceived intended use clauses. Or, hopefully, it may have missed them and not sought the evidence out.
But the FDA's actions, aside from scaring the pants off our transatlantic cousins, do underline the need we, in the UK, have, to be vigilant and to make sure that there is no way such accusations can be levelled at our vendors and suppliers.
So, if you're a vendor, check your site. If you're a user, please, please, don't post to vendor forums extolling the virtues of e-cigs as a quitting device. It won't do anyone any favours.
