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."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

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.