FDA Eases Vape Restrictions and Drops Tanning Bed Ban for Minors Under MAHA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is rolling back restrictions on unauthorized vaping products and abandoning a long-standing proposal to ban minors from using tanning beds. Public health experts warn these moves could weaken federal efforts to shield teens from addictive and high-risk products.

Key FDA Decisions Under Scrutiny

The FDA recently made two significant concessions to the vaping industry in May:

• Authorized the first fruit-flavored vaping products for adults, a decision opposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• Indicated it will not prioritize enforcement against certain unauthorized vaping products and nicotine pouches that have applied for authorization but remain under review.

Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary reportedly resisted approving flavored vapes before reversing his stance under White House pressure. His resistance allegedly contributed to his dismissal. Rich Danker, chief spokesperson for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., resigned in protest over the FDA’s decision on Wednesday, according to a letter obtained by The New York Times.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directed Axios to the FDA’s official press release for comment.

Expert Reactions to FDA’s Vaping Policy Shift

"This is a get-out-of-jail-free card for companies that have broken the law and have not waited for FDA to complete their scientific review."

Mitch Zeller, former director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (2013–2022)

Zeller, who led the FDA’s tobacco regulation efforts for nearly a decade, expressed concerns about potential political interference in the authorization process. He also criticized the new guidance, which outlines when the FDA will and will not enforce rules:

"I think it was a misguided, wrongheaded policy that both was illegal from a process standpoint and just substantively flawed."

A bipartisan group of attorneys general argued in a letter that the FDA’s decision "threatens to allow a wider array of FDA-authorized flavored products that will be appealing and accessible to youth, without sufficient proven countervailing health benefits to adults who smoke."

Public Health Concerns for Teens

Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and founder of the university’s REACH Lab, emphasized the impact of FDA decisions on young people’s perceptions of product safety:

"If you tell them that the FDA had a role in approving or disapproving something, they wake up and pay attention to that."

Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Stanford University

She added, "We're absolutely going backwards" in efforts to protect adolescents from risky behaviors.

Broader Regulatory Rollbacks Raise Alarm

The FDA’s changes to vaping regulations are part of a wider pattern that critics say could endanger young people. These include:

• Overhauling the childhood vaccine schedule.
• Withdrawing a decade-old proposal to ban minors from using sunlamp products, such as tanning beds.

In March, the FDA abandoned its proposal to ban minors from tanning beds, a move critics argue is misguided given research linking tanning bed use to a nearly threefold increase in melanoma risk. The FDA stated it needs to "reassess how best to address the issues it raised, including how to balance public health concerns with industry interests."