Sanford sends medicine to his patients: stop now

Dr. Allison Suttle, Chief Medical Officer of Sanford, sent a directive to all Sanford doctors on Wednesday afternoon, asking them to help stop a nation-wide severe lung injury related to use. electronic cigarettes or the practice of vaping. The outbreak has sickened more than 500 people and killed seven others, the Centers for Disease Control announced Wednesday (September 18th).

"I'm asking you to contact these patients as you see fit to warn them of the potential dangers of electronic cigarettes," Suttle told Sanford doctors in the email.

Over the next two weeks, the health system will send a letter to all patients with a history of using the electronic cigarette, telling them to stop and talk to their doctor and at the point of departure from stopping the practice, Suttle said. Sanford has also created a quick reference and an incentive to action for physicians.

CDC officials said this week that 530 cases of the disease had been reported in the country, with seven confirmed deaths, and they expect more cases to be reported.

"The lung injuries associated with the e-cigarette or vaping that we described are serious," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, Senior Assistant Director of the CDC, at a teleconference held Thursday. "People are dying."

Sanford's call to discontinue the use of the electronic cigarette was preceded by a call launched Thursday by federal health officials. He again warned users of the e-cigarette against the practice and forbade them to use or buy products on the street, or to modify or add substances to their electronic cigarettes. .

Federal and state officials still do not know what triggers the disease. For now, they say there is not a single substance that seems to be involved in every case. Many, but not all, patients have used products containing THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Others said they use electronic cigarettes containing only nicotine.

"We are not neglecting to track all potential leads regarding a particular product, constituent, or compound," said Mitch Zeller, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Tobacco Products Center, at the press conference. Thursday.

The FDA's Criminal Investigation Bureau, the Criminal Investigations Bureau, has opened its own parallel investigation into the disease, including examining the supply chain of products used by patients, Zeller said.