On July 25, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to 80 brick-and-mortar retailers in 15 states for selling unauthorized e-cigarette products popular with teenagers, including brands such as ELFBAR and Lost Mary.
At the same time, the FDA announced that it will take civil penalty actions (CMPs) against eight retailers who previously received warnings for selling unauthorized e-cigarettes but did not take action, requiring each retailer to pay a fine of $20,678.
The warning letters and CMPs are the result of the FDA’s use of multiple monitoring systems that identify products that are favored or attracted to teens. The FDA sends the first warning letter after a violation is confirmed or examined, and recipients of the warning letter have 15 business days to respond to what steps they will take to correct the current violation and prevent future violations.
Over the past year, the FDA has conducted inspections of retailers to identify those selling unauthorized e-cigarettes. As a result of these actions, the FDA has issued more than 690 warning letters and more than 140 civil penalty actions to retailers for unauthorized e-cigarette sales.
To date, the FDA has authorized 34 e-cigarette products and devices, and these are currently the only e-cigarette products that may be legally sold in the United States.