FDA to Regulate E-Cigarettes Just Like Tobacco

Agency Will Not Regulate E-Cigarettes Under the Stricter Rules That Apply to Medical Products

The FDA has decided to oversee electronic cigarettes the same way it does tobacco products. The agency will not regulate the vapor-producing devices under the stricter federal rules that apply to medical products.

The FDA says it decided not to appeal a federal appeals court ruling asserting that e-cigarettes could be regulated as tobacco products and “are not drugs or devices” unless specifically marketed for therapeutic purposes, such as purporting to help people quit smoking.

The decision not to appeal was announced in a letter to the public and stakeholders from Lawrence R. Deyton, MD, MSPH, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, and Janet Woodcock, MD, director of the agency’s Drug Evaluation and Research.

Most buildings fail to comply with smoking ban

A majority of buildings in the capital have failed to comply with a gubernatorial decree banning smoking inside buildings, a city agency says.

The Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) found that out of 249 buildings monitored for their implementation of the smoking ban, only 21 buildings, or eight percent, could be categorized as “very good” in complying with the regulation.

Most of the buildings failed to comply with orders to remove smoking sections and mandate that smokers light up outside.

Heart link to chewing tobacco

Indian cardiologists have produced what they say is the first evidence to show that chewing tobacco can constrict the blood vessels of the heart within minutes and possibly raise the risk of heart attacks.

Their study on men who volunteered to chew a single gram of tobacco while having their hearts monitored has revealed significant reductions in the diameters of coronary arteries within 10 minutes after they began chewing.

The cardiologists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, say their findings highlight the rapidity with which a habit long associated with mouth cancer can also put the heart in danger by constricting coronary arteries.

Minicab cigarette 'adbins' in Westminster unlawful

Westminster Council wants a London minicab firm to remove its sponsored cigarette bins, after a court ruling.

Addison Lee provides 19,000 free 'adbins' bearing its logo outside businesses across the capital.

But a judge decided that 21 of the bins in Westminster were in violation of planning laws, fining Addison Lee and making it pay £20,000 in costs.

The firm accused the council of "hypocrisy", saying other bins in the borough were sponsored by Coca-Cola.

Reynolds American 1Q Profit Soars But Volumes Continue To Fall

Reynolds American Inc.'s (RAI) first-quarter earnings more than quadrupled from a year-ago period weighed by a settlement with the Canadian government, and higher product pricing and operational cost cuts continued to offset cigarette volume declines.

Revenue missed analyst expectations, but earnings came in ahead.

Reynolds, whose brands include Camel cigarettes and Grizzly moist snuff, has shifted its focus in the face of changing demand for cigarettes. The company has diversified into smokeless tobacco, cut production costs by shutting plants and put its energy into a few key brands. Last month, the company sold its Lane Ltd. roll-your-own and pipe tobacco unit to Denmark's Scandinavian Tobacco Group AS for $205 million.