National vaping death total hits 19 after 1st case in Massachusetts
Just 13 days after Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, of Massachusetts, enacted a ban on e-cigarettes and vaping products, the state Department of Public Health announced Monday the state’s first death from a vaping-associated lung injury.
The victim was identified as a woman in her 60s from Hampshire County. The woman was among the 121 suspected cases that have been reported in the Bay State since Sept. 11, when it began mandating that clinicians immediately report any unexplained vaping-associated lung injury to the department.
This marks the second death in New England in four days as Connecticut reported its first death on Thursday. The death in Massachusetts brings the national total to 19 reported in 16 states. As of last week, a total of 1,080 lung injury cases associated with using e-cigarette or vaping products have been reported to the CDC from 48 states and 1 U.S. territory.
No single product has been linked to all cases of vaping-related lung injury.
This past Friday, Massachusetts' ban was upheld by a U.S. District Court judge after the Vapor Technology Association filed for a temporary restraining order to lift the ban.