Dangerously Inaccurate Reporting on Vaping-Linked Outbreak Persists

Coverage of the outbreak of illness linked to “vaping” has been handled poorly in general, but Bernadette Hogan’s recent article in the New York Post is especially egregious. Not once does her article mention that illicit marijuana vapes—not nicotine e-cigarettes—are the products linked to the outbreak. That’s something even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has finally—albeit, tacitly—admitted over the last month. Her article also failed to note the role of vitamin E acetate, the contaminant most likely responsible for the pneumonia-like illnesses and found in THC vaping products linked to every single patient in New York.

That information might have been useful to residents who use these products and might want to know how they can best protect themselves against the “vaping linked” lung injuries. Instead of providing this vital information, Hogan’s story helps perpetuate the unfounded war on e-cigarettes—products used safely by millions of people for over a decade and which have the potential to lessen the incidence of smoking-related illness and death.