UK could become first to prescribe e-cigarettes to smokers

Smokers in the UK may soon be offered electronic cigarettes to help them quit smoking.

UK health officials are leading the way for e-cigarette makers to seek government approval for their products as a way to treat tobacco addiction, update says regulatory guidelines published Friday.

Manufacturers of electronic cigarettes can now present their devices to the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for verification of regulatory standards, in accordance with any other medical product or drug introduced to the market. Approved nicotine vaping devices could then be prescribed for patients seeking to reduce their dependence on tobacco.

Products approved under the new directive will mark the very first electronic cigarettes authorized for medical use, according to UK lawmakers.

Studies show that electronic cigarettes can be more efficient than conventional nicotine replacement therapy, such as a nicotine patch or gum, to help smokers quit.

Scientists spoke to the UK’s Science Media Center about the landmark decision, putting more confidence in the safety of e-cigarettes than ever before.

“The option of having approved devices that could be prescribed would reassure smokers about the relative risks and would also help reach those who can least afford e-cigarettes,” said Linda Bauld, public health expert. from the University of Edinburgh.

“Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of health inequalities, so anything we can do to help poorer smokers in particular quit is a step in the right direction,” she told Science Media Center.

Meanwhile, the United States Food and Drug Administration has also recently taken steps to ensure the safety of these devices, having officially licensed the first e-cigarette – Vuse’s Solo, an RJ Reynolds product – earlier this month. The director of the FDA’s Tobacco Center, Mitch Zeller, called it a “big step” that could help American smokers quit.

Government health officials have admitted that e-cigarettes “are not without risk” and are certainly addictive. The vaporizer in such devices contains nicotine and “some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke, but at much lower levels,” according to the UK’s National Health Service.

Toxicology researcher Alan Boobis of Imperial College London said in a statement to the Science Media Center: “I think it’s fair to say that using an e-cigarette that meets current consumption standards will be much less harmful than smoking cigarettes. “