Chairman Krishnamoorthi & Senator Durbin Urge FDA To Review New And Disturbing Evidence From North Carolina That JUUL Deliberately Marketed High-Nicotine Products to American Youth
The Members’ Request Follows Yesterday’s $40 Million Settlement Between The State Of North Carolina And JUUL Over Youth Targeting
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to the Acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock regarding JUUL's Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) to continue selling its products in the United States. The letter was sent as a follow-up to Dr. Woodcock's testimonybefore the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy last week.
"During the hearing, you committed to considering a company's prior youth targeting and violations of law in your deliberations on a PMTA application," Chairman Krishnamoorthi and Senator Durbin wrote. "You were asked specifically about the relevance of evidence in a case that the Attorney General of North Carolina brought against JUUL alleging that the company targeted underage users for years. In response, you said, ‘I think we should look at all documents,' and you committed to ‘gathering all documents from that case, including expert reports.'"
On Monday, the North Carolina Attorney General's office settled its case against JUUL for $40 million, with a range of marketing concessions from the company, for JUUL's marketing practices targeting their high-nicotine products at children.
In response, Chairman Krishnamoorthi and Senator Durbin requested that Acting Commissioner Woodcock follow through on the commitment she made in her testimony, writing:
"We request that you follow through on your commitment to request all documents from that case and review them prior to ruling on a JUUL PMTA application. Please confirm by July 6, 2021, that you have requested all documents from the North Carolina Attorney General's JUUL investigation, and that you will review all such documents before ruling on a JUUL PMTA application."
A copy of the letter is available here.