On Jan. 13, Bloomberg reported that approximately 1.3 million user complaints were received by Juul company, an e-cigarette company provider, between 2015 and 2018.
The most evident health issue that Bloomberg found out is the effect of leaky nicotine pods that are accidentally making Juul users swallow the juice, causing them to feel ill and even resulted to throat burns.
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Juul Users Swallowed Some of the Juice Due to Leaky Pods
Out of 1.3 million complaints, around 156,000 from this population said that their pods' devices were leaking. Some of them even accidentally swallowed the juice while using the e-cigarette.
"I do refill sometimes, and sometimes I will get lots of juice in my mouth and have the pod leaks. I think some pods have defects because I've had some pods leak and some work flawlessly," said @Bdealin on Reddit.
Worse, one Juul user was diagnosed with a 'burned throat' after she felt her throat starting to bleed while smoking mango-flavored pods.
"I tried to utilize the starter packs pods, and the fruit flavor was so harsh that it made me cough to the point where my throat started to bleed. I am not exaggerating," the customer said, according to the FDA's report.
Back then, Juul only admitted 317 user complaints that were connected to health issues-- making it a minor issue.
However, after some time, the company then confirmed the issue by saying that more than 2,500 health issues were reportedly recorded from the complaints' database that Juul users experienced while using the device.
Juul Reiterated That "Leaks did not Constitute a Significant Health Hazard"
Though a lot of Juul users were already complaining about the said leaks and health dangers their devices brought to them, the nicotine pods company still reiterated that the alleged 'leaking of the pods does not constitute any health hazard' to people.
As explained, the company already made different studies regarding the issue and found no health issues even if a person swallows or tastes the juices from the pods.
To make it up with the users' complaints, the Food and Drug Administration reported that Juul "typically offered consumers free product replacements or percentage off coupons."
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FDA Ordered Companies To Stop Selling Flavored Vapes
Meanwhile, on Jan. 2, FDA already banned all vaping companies from selling flavored vapes in response to complaints they received, implying that youth and even children have been encouraged to vape due to the 'attractive' flavors they promote and sell.
"Companies that do not cease manufacture, distribution, and sale of unauthorized flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes (other than tobacco or menthol) within 30 days risk FDA enforcement actions," said FDA on their website.
