Sixth person dies from mystery vaping-related lung illness

Authorities in Kansas have confirmed another death caused by a mystery vaping-related lung disease, making it the sixth vaping death so far in the U.S. 

According to the Washington Post, the Kansas resident was hospitalized after experiencing that progressed rapidly. The Post reports that the resident was over 50 years old and had a history of pre-existing illnesses. It is not known what type of vaping products the patient used. 

Other deaths have been confirmed in California, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Oregon. Patients have reported a variety of symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, coughing, fatigue, and fever. 

Authorities believe certain vaping products — including THC-infused cartridges — can cause rapid and severe lung-related illnesses that ultimately lead to these deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an announcement on August 30 warning people of the possibly dangerous effects of e-cigarettes. According to the CDC, as of September 6, more than 450 possible vaping-related diseases had been reported spanning 33 states. The CDC warned minors, pregnant woman, young adults, and those who don’t use tobacco to stay away from vaping products. 

The CDC said that it, along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is investigating the outbreak of “severe pulmonary disease associated with e-cigarette product (devices, liquids, refill pods, and/or cartridges) use.”

The FDA separated investigating reports that e-cigarette use could be linked to seizures or other neurological symptoms. The agency plans to implement new restrictions on flavored e-cigarettes and other forms of vaping in 2021.

Amidst the multiple deaths and CDC warnings, some states and cities are taking further action to limit the use of vaping. On September 3, Michigan became the first state to ban flavored electronic cigarettes in response to increased vaping in youth and rising health concerns for all of its residents.

In June, San Francisco became the first city to ban all e-cigarette sales, flavored or otherwise, entirely.

Nicotine vaping products — like the popular brand Juul — often advertise themselves as being a safer and healthier alternative to traditional cigarette smoking. However, studies consistently show e-cigarette smokers are less likely to quit than regular smokers who have never used these kinds of devices.

Related posts

Latest posts

Apple’s Vision Pro is getting the M5 chip, but that’s not what it really needs

Apple’s M5 chip is coming to the Vision Pro, but that’s not the change the headset really needs. Instead, Apple should be prioritizing a more affordable model.

This music app is doing something different in the Apple App Store

A new music app called Practice Pro has decided against the popular freemium model, and gone in a different direction to attract downloads.

The U.K. wants unchecked access to all iPhones worldwide

Using an infamous legal provision, the UK government has reportedly ordered Apple to let it access encrypted cloud data of all iPhone users across the globe.

This One UI 7 update just made my Galaxy S25 Ultra way more fun

Good Lock's updated Home Up module brings new ways to experiement with your home screen on the Galaxy S25 series, and I'm hooked.

Your smartwatch will soon be able to detect signs of heart failure

Fresh research details a method than can detect congestive heart failure (CHF) using smartwatch ECG data with an impressive 90% accuracy in patients.

This Acer Predator gaming PC with RTX 4070 Ti Super is $350 off

The Acer Predator Orion 5000 gaming PC, featuring the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics card and 32GB of RAM, is on sale from Best Buy at $350 off.

New iPad Air incoming? There’s a low stock warning

The next iPad Air could be revealed in just a few weeks.

Samsung might return to all-Exynos for its Galaxy S26 lineup

Samsung has seen successful early yields with the Exynos 2600, its in-house chip slated for use with the Galaxy S26.

Google Messages might let you unsend awkward messages in RCS chats

Google Messages could receive a "delete for everyone" feature, allowing you to recall messages, but only in RCS enabled chats.

Grab this Lenovo Legion gaming PC while it’s under $1,000

The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 8 gaming PC with the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, AMD Radeon RX 7600 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM is a steal for under $1,000,