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Severe pulmonary illnesses linked to vaping including 11 cases in New York

E-Cigarette-1E-Cigarettes are dangerous products that can lead to serious personal injury.  The New York Health Department is investigating 11 cases of teens and young adults who suffered severe lung illnesses after vaping. Their cases are among the 94 cases reported nationally to the Center for Disease Control. The CDC announced a few days ago that investigation in these cases were ongoing.

In New York, parents and kids will be protesting teen vaping Today in front of the JUUL offices in Manhattan.  Among the cases reported to the CDC, an 18 year old teenager said that he checked in at the emergency room after he had been using JUUL e-cigarette for a year and half. He felt like he was having a heart attack. Doctors found his lungs had collapsed and he had to go for immediate surgery. The doctors said that the inflammation in his lungs could have come from something he inhaled.

Vaping is extremely popular among young adults especially with high school and middle school students

Because of their sweet flavors e-cigarettes, such as mango, they appeal to youth. However most e-cigarettes also contain nicotine which is extremely addictive. Nicotine can be detrimental to brain development and may impact learning, memory and attention.  E-Cigarettes may also contain cancer-causing chemicals, flavors that have been linked to lung disease, ultrafine particles or heavy metals such as lead, tin and nickel.

An additional danger is that Chinese counterfeits of JUUL e-cigarettes have invaded the market (see previous blog) and are sold all over, not only through amazon and ebay but also by unethical tobacco distributors who see a great opportunity to make an extra profit. While counterfeiters are offering their fake pods to distributors for $4.40 a box, the real JUUL pod costs $10 a box to a distributor who sell them for $20 to a store which sells them for $35 to the final customer.