Let's put the Vaping Crisis at the Top of the Agenda

By Robert C. Garret, 9-15-19
The image on Twitter is graphic and disturbing: an otherwise healthy 17-year old is in a hospital bed on a ventilator, his lungs failing from vaping, something he has done since 8th grade. Another teen told CNN this week that his physician delivered grim news: the boy, a varsity wrestler, has lungs like those of a 70-year-old. He vaped for two years and may never return to the mat. As a father and health care executive for 35 years, I am alarmed by this crisis on so many fronts: hundreds hospitalized with mysterious lung illnesses across thecountry; several deaths possibly linked to vaping; an epidemic of adolescents using e-cigarettes and the unnerving reality that even our top health experts can’t fully explain the scope or cause of this threat. Read more