FDA's Tobacco Committee Continues Dissolvable Review

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Six months after first taking up the issue, the Food and Drug Administration's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) will meet again this week to discuss dissolvable tobacco products .

Starting tomorrow and running through Friday, the committee will continue its discussions on issues related to the nature and impact of the use of dissolvable tobacco products on the public health, including use among youth. The group's discussion will touch on the composition and characteristics of dissolvable tobacco products, product use, potential health effects and marketing.

TPSAC is required to submit a report on dissolvable products to the Secretary of Health and Human Services by mid-March, as CSNews Online previously reported.

Many public health advocates are concerned about the risks these products pose to children and teens, namely possible addiction and nicotine poisoning, according to a report by MSN.com.

"If you wanted to design a product that would appeal to youth and addict younger adolescents and adults to nicotine, this would be it," said Dr. Jonathan Winickoff, a pediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "These products are designed to look like a candy and addict the user permanently."

Winickoff said he hopes the FDA will do whatever it can to keep these products away from children and teens. "We could consider capping the amount of nicotine in each piece so you could eliminate or drastically reduce potential to cause a fatal nicotine overdose if the entire package was consumed," he said.