Harvard doctor warns vaping-linked disease is becoming an 'epidemic'
A third person has died from a lung disease linked to vaping, the Indiana Department of Health announced Friday.
The lung illness has now caused 450 potential cases across 33 states and one territory, but save for a warning that it's likely tied to a "chemical" in vaping products, there has been minimal news on what's causing the mysterious disease. That uncertainty has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to warn Americans against vaping, and for a Harvard University doctor to call for an "urgent response" in a Friday editorial.
News of a third vaping-related death came just as the New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial Friday pushing for further awareness around "the harmful effects of vaping," The New York Times reports. The editorial instructed doctors to tell their patients not to vape, while Dr. David Christiani of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health wrote that the ongoing lung disease "is clearly an epidemic that begs for an urgent response."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So far, the CDC's investigation has not found that any one device or substance is responsible for the disease. One person who died from it was reported to have been vaping marijuana from a dispensary, but many who have fallen ill were only vaping nicotine, per BuzzFeed News. With all this uncertainty, the CDC has issued a warning saying people "should consider not using e-cigarette products" until a cause is found.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published