When the Obama administration's Food and Drug Administration gave way to the Trump era, there were a number of positive changes in how the federal government treated smoking cessation tools that were not controlled by large corporations.

They rolled back the arbitrary framing that claimed all tobacco was as harmful as cigarettes - except Big Pharma products like nicotine patches and gums. They accepted that adults should have all options available for quitting cigarettes or at least reducing harm.

But there has been lingering concern about kids. Teens rebel, that has long been known, and if they are going to rebel it is better to rebel with vaping than cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana for the simple reason that there is no known harm to nicotine vapor the way there is smoke or whiskey.

But surveys made e-cigarette use in teens a concern, and the reason is because 95% safer is still not safe. Unlike caffeine, nicotine is a natural compound that has negative connotations in culture. FDA has stated no teens, even those who can vote for President, should be using vaping.



Now they are investigating a new concern; reports indicating that some people who use e-cigarettes are experiencing seizures following their use. Seizures or convulsions are known potential side effects of nicotine poisoning and have been reported due to intentional (and a few accidental, in kids) instances of swallowing nicotine-containing e-liquids. They have identified 35 reported cases of seizures following use of e-cigarettes between 2010 and early 2019. 

Over a ~10 year period, 35 seizures is not much. That is 1 in 100,000,000. It's still enough for FDA to flag it as a worry because the vaping community is a tiny fraction of the population. In order to get answers, they will need to change data gathering. Right now, they are heavily reliant on surveys, which are so prone to confounders as to be useless, especially with teens. That means there is no way as yet to create a causal relationship, much less know what devices may be involved. 35 points of data is all over the cultural map because it is in the Powerball winning statistical area. Both first time and experienced users have reported seizures, some with a history of seizures and some without. Some were also taking drugs.

Then there are individual behavioral issues in play. Most former smokers wean themselves off nicotine entirely but new recreational users who have devices which let them control the nicotine may be using more. Were the devices stock from a manufacturer or modified by consumers?
The e-cigarette community gets paranoid whenever government mentions asking for data but people should report any unexpected health issues experienced with any product, be it organic food or vaping tools, with as much detail as possible.