Juul e-cigarettes might soon be off the market

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is apparently gearing up to pull Juul e-cigarettes off the market, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday per individuals familiar with the matter.

Juul has for years proven controversial, having been "blamed for fueling a surge of underage vaping," the Journal writes. The company has been working ever since to revive its image, both in the eyes of regulators and consumers.

In 2020, the FDA asked e-cigarette companies to submit applications for review if they wanted to keep their products on the market. The agency's impending decision regarding Juul is a part of that analysis. The agency also at the start of 2020 banned all vaping flavors except tobacco and menthol, per CNN. Juul ended sales of its flavored products in the U.S. in 2019.

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If ordered off the market, Juul could appeal the FDA's decision, challenge the order in court, or perhaps "file a revised application for its products," the Journal writes.

News of the e-cigarette company's possible fate also notably arrives just a day after the FDA said it would work to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes in hopes of curbing smoking-related deaths. Public health experts have said the goal would be "transformative" if enacted, CNN summarizes.