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The Food and Drug Administration plans to ban sales of most flavored e-cigarettes in retail stores and gas stations around the country, in an effort to reduce the popularity of vaping among young people. The agency also plans to require age-verification measures for online sales to try to ensure that minors are not able to buy the flavor pods. (Kaplan, 11/8)

The ban means only tobacco, mint and menthol flavors can be sold at these outlets, the agency official said, potentially dealing a major blow to Juul Labs Inc, the San Francisco-based market leader in vape devices. The FDA also will introduce stricter age-verification requirements for online sales of e-cigarettes. The FDA’s planned restrictions, first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed to Reuters by the official, do not apply to vape shops or other specialty retail stores. (Reuters, 11/9)

The FDA’s initiatives on vaping are spurred by preliminary government data that show ­e-cigarette use rose 77 percent among high schoolers and nearly 50 percent among middle schoolers in 2018. That means 3.5 million children were vaping in early 2018, up 1 million from 2017. Gottlieb, who once served on the board of a North Carolina vaping company, was at one time viewed as an ally of the e-cigarette industry, and he delayed some critical e-cigarette rules shortly after becoming commissioner in 2017. He has also said his first priority is protecting children from tobacco-related disease. Most vaping products are flavored, and studies show teenagers are attracted to the flavors. (McGinley, 11/8)

The FDA has talked for months about ways to reduce youth use, citing rising concern that e-cigarettes are creating a new class of nicotine users, rather than primarily helping people transition off regular cigarettes. The FDA has called youth use of the devices “an epidemic” and said it would consider significant action to stop it. Vaping surged 77 percent among high school-age children and about 50 percent among middle-schoolers in 2018, according to preliminary government data. (Armstrong, Edney and Zaleski, 11/8)

The Cuomo administration is planning to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes as soon as next year—putting New York at the forefront of growing efforts around the country to rein in the products. The state Department of Health posted regulations on Wednesday banning the sale or possession of flavored e-cigarettes, citing an “alarming increase of e-cigarette use among New York’s youth” and a desire to “protect our youth from a lifetime addiction to nicotine.” (Vielkind, 11/8)

The FDA commissioner explains why he's cracking down on e-cigarettes, how he views science in the Trump administration and the reaction to his infamous "almonds don't lactate" line, and much more. (11/8)

A new version of the once-popular asthma inhaler Primatene Mist will soon return to U.S. stores. The Food and Drug Administration approved the over-the-counter aerosol inhaler late Wednesday. It's for temporary relief of mild, intermittent asthma symptoms in people ages 12 and up. (11/8)