As of the end of October, there were 1,888 confirmed and probable lung injury cases associated with use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products reported to the CDC by 49 states (all except Alaska), the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Approximately 70% of patients are male; the median age of patients is 24 years and ages range from 13 to 75 years and 79% of patients are under 35 years old.

Some 250 cardiovascular disease patients, survivors, caregivers, researchers descended on Washington, D.C. this week to urge lawmakers to remove flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars and menthol cigarettes, from the market. The activists, part of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) You’re the Cure grassroots network, were in the nation’s capital for congressional hearings about the health threats of electronic cigarettes.

Don’t count on the tobacco companies to reverse the sharp rise in e-cigarette use among teens. That’s the message the American Heart Association (AHA) is sending to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who promised last week that the federal government would act to curtail youthful e-cigarette use.