Prognosis
Philip Morris Money Is Funding Pro-Vaping Virus Spin
- Groups backed by cigarette maker, Juul dispute health warnings
- FDA says vaping has unknown effects on risks of the virus
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pointed a finger at the vaping industry last month as he discussed a 22-year-old New Yorker who’d been hospitalized with Covid-19. “We do think the fact that he is a vaper is affecting this situation,” de Blasio said.
The suggestion that vaping and cigarettes can worsen the risks from the new coronavirus has put nicotine purveyors in the spotlight. Groups indirectly funded by Philip Morris International, maker of Marlboros and electronic nicotine devices, and vape firm Juul Labs Inc. are pushing back. Their messages contradict public-health experts’ warnings that smoking puts people at higher risk for severe cases of Covid-19 and that vaping’s effect is unknown but potentially harmful too.