Senator Mitt Romney says Congress should have been stockpiling medical supplies "decades ago" in anticipation of a virus outbreak. (Photo: KSL File)
SALT LAKE CITY — A U.S. Senator from Utah is taking a strong stance on the nationwide vaping issue.
Now with a sixth confirmed death in the U.S. linked to vaping products and e-cigarette use, Senator Mitt Romney says it’s time for action.
“I believe that these products are candidates for recall,” explains Senator Romney. “They’re dangerous, people are dying because of them and they ought to be off the market I believe.”
His comments on KSL Newsradio’s Dave & Dujanovic came just prior to President Trump announcing his proposal to the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to pull all flavored e-cigarette cartridges.
Taking things a step further, Senator Romney remains adamant that the FDA should consider recalling all e-cigarettes.
“The government is going to be carrying out that analysis and hopefully removing the products if they find that they meet the criteria for recall,” Romney explained.
A concern shared by Senator Romney, President Trump and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is that e-cigarette developers are purposely targeting children.
Senator Romney says some of the popular flavors, like mango and bubblegum, are obviously being marketed in order to appeal to children.
It does seem pretty obvious that the makers of these vaping products are targeting kids,” says Senator Romney. “They’re putting packaging together that kids can take to school, they’re putting flavors in place which are clearly focused on kids.”
On Wednesday, Azar said he, the President and FDA will work to develop a guideline aimed at pulling the flavored products off of shelves.
This decision would leave only the standard tobacco-flavored products available.