Juul, Other E-Cigarette Makers Face Judgment Day

A shakeout of e-cigarettes is at hand.

The Food and Drug Administration is nearing a deadline to decide which e-cigarettes may remain on the market in a series of rulings that have already begun to reshape the industry.

The agency’s mandate is to authorize vaping products only if their manufacturers can demonstrate that they are in the interest of public health. The FDA must weigh, among other things, the potential good of adult cigarette smokers switching to a less harmful option against the potential harm of young people getting hooked on nicotine.

The process already has eliminated some products from the market, and the agency has told e-cigarette makers to expect stricter controls on the way their products are marketed and sold. Some companies may be put out of business entirely. The FDA also could allow some sweet and fruity e-cigarette cartridges back on the market after temporarily restricting flavored vaping products last year.

“We are working furiously on application review in order to move on from sort of a Wild West unregulated marketplace,” the FDA’s acting commissioner, Janet Woodcock, said at a congressional hearing in June. “We intend to use [our] authority to protect kids and optimize public health.”