FDA Investigates Vaping Seizures

Investigates vaping seizures

UNITED STATES – As reported in an online news article published by www.cnbc.com, an FDA investigation is underway to determine the link between vaping and seizures amid reports of at least 127 seizures.

In April 2019, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began investigating e-cigarette usage (“vaping”) and subsequent seizures.  As part of the investigation, the FDA has reviewed 10 years of data and has relied upon customer reports to determine the prevalence of seizures after vaping.

The FDA asked members of the public to come forward and report whether they had ever had a seizure after vaping.  The FDA’s call garnered an additional 92 reports of seizures after publicly announcing the existence of an investigation.  The FDA is again asking that members of the public who have had seizures after vaping come forward to report their experiences.

Whether vaping itself is causing people to suffer from seizures is unclear.  The FDA needs additional data to determine whether there is a direct link between vaping and seizures, or whether there are risk factors that make specific individuals more susceptible to having seizures after vaping.

Additionally, the FDA is seeking to determine whether a specific brand or type of e-cigarette may place users at greater risk of suffering from a seizure over other brands or models of e-cigarettes.  E-cigarettes contain very high concentrations of nicotine, which can make users sick.  Not only can high nicotine-content cause nausea, sweating, dizziness, and tremors, but in high enough levels, nicotine can cause seizures or even death.

So far, the FDA does not see a clear pattern among all reports of vaping and seizures.  As such, further analysis is needed to determine in what way, if any, seizures are a result of vaping, and if so, what specific aspects of e-cigarettes cause users to experience seizures.