N
F
E
R
NEWS
H
HOW US
“VAPE LUNG”
CRISIS
UNFOLDED
Words: Patrick Griffin
T
he fi rst reports of people being taken to
hospital with vape-related lung illnesses
came to light in August.
Around 22 people were admitted to hospital
with severe breathing problems in Minnesota,
Wisconsin and Illinois. Vaping appeared to be a
common factor but doctors could not pinpoint the
exact cause of the illnesses.
Many of the patients were young and the vaping
of both nicotine e-cigarettes and illegal THC
cartridges were reported.
“It is really starting
to look like this is
a cannabis vaping
issue and that
it may not have
anything to do with
e-cigarettes.”
24 VM25
Similar cases were reported in New York and
California where there were seven cases of people
reporting pneumonia-like symptoms after vaping.
All seven of the California patients had recently
vaped THC and CBD oil cartridges obtained from
unlicensed retailers.
After 11 patients reported vape-linked pulmonary
illness in New York, medical investigators identified
Vitamin E acetate as a potential cause of the
illnesses.
Boston University professor of public health
Michael Siegel told USA Today: “It is really starting
to look like this is a cannabis vaping issue and that
it may not have anything to do with e-cigarettes.”
Within just a matter of weeks more than 350 “vape
lung” cases had been reported in the USA and by
now there had been a number of deaths reported,
albeit in single fi gure numbers.
It looked like the reported deaths were the result of
people vaping cannabis products and the spotlight
was starting to shine on black market THC vape
cartridges.
Offi cials in Oregon linked one of the deaths to a
vape cartridge bought from a licensed dispensary.
Paediatrician Dr Ann Thomas, head of Oregon’s
incident management team, said: “At this point, we
don’t really know what is safe.”
By early September, the US CDC-confi rmed death
toll from vaping had climbed to fi ve and each case,
symptoms mirrored serious respiratory diseases
like pneumonia.
On September 9, the American Medical Association
warned Americans against using any kind of vaping
device or e-cigarette.
A day later the death toll rose to six when a patient
from Kansas aged over 50 and with a history of
health issues, died from an an unknown respiratory
illness linked to vaping.
Shortly afterwards a high school student from
Texas died after reportedly using a vape device
containing cannabis and by now there were
around 450 vape lung cases reported.
At the time of writing there had been 1,080 cases
and 18 deaths but still no offi cial cause of the vape
lung incidents. Only time will tell what long-term
impact this will have on the US vaping industry.