Harry Kazakian
The mounting toll of deaths and severe injuries from vaping are certain to be followed by criminal prosecutions and personal injury lawsuits. Prosecutors and plaintiffs will both be intent on identifying the individuals and entities accountable for this currently puzzling public health scourge.
As of this writing there have been 34 deaths and 1,600 illnesses across the country linked to vaping. It’s a cruel irony that as more people are afflicted, more identifiable patterns are starting to emerge.
First among those is that a majority of injuries are being reported among people who use THC or THC-infused vaping liquids. By some reports, such as this one in the Motley Fool, as many as 77 percent of cases involved people who used a mix of nicotine and THC in their vaping devices within 30 days of the onset of their symptoms.
Even so, scientists and medical professionals are scrambling to discover the cause and save others from severe injuries or death.
The FDA’s proposed regulations on e-cigarettes and vaping fluids are currently entangled in lawsuits and politics. To protect the public, the FDA on Oct. 4 issued a public warning against using any vaping products containing THC and any capsules of any kind obtained off the street. The warning included capsules that users themselves might modify with THC or flavored oils.
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