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FDA Ban on Juul E-Cigarettes Gets Put On Hold for Now

A court grants an emergency hold on a ban by the Food and Drug Administration. It'll rule later on the possibility of a longer hold while the ban gets appealed.

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Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.
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A man exhaling a cloud of smoke from an electronic cigarette.
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Juul Labs can continue selling its e-cigarettes for the time being, after a federal appeals court on Friday issued a temporary stay on a ban by the US Food and Drug Administration.

On Thursday, the FDA ordered Juul to stop selling and distributing its vape pens and flavored pods. The agency said that when Juul applied for a required FDA authorization to market its tobacco products, the company failed to provide sufficient evidence that the products meet legal standards around public health.

Juul disagreed and on Friday filed for an emergency hold on the ban while the company prepares a follow-up request that the ban be suspended while Juul appeals the FDA's decision. 

In granting the administrative stay, the appeals court reportedly said Juul has until Monday at noon to file its additional request and that the FDA has until July 7 to file its response. The court will then decide whether the products should be taken off the market while it considers Juul's appeal.

The FDA's ban follows a broad two-year review of Juul, which needed the agency's authorization for its e-cigarettes to stay on the market. E-cigarettes were initially marketed to former smokers as a way of helping them avoid the harmful effects of real cigarettes. They work by converting liquid nicotine into vapor. But experts have warned that the smooth delivery of a high nicotine substance, packaged in a sleek design, may promote nicotine addiction in younger people. 

Each year, 480,000 people die from diseases attributed to smoking, according to the FDA. 

Juul didn't respond to a request for comment. The FDA said it doesn't comment on possible, pending or ongoing litigation.

CNET's Jessica Rendall contributed to this report.

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The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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