ROD: A HEALTH ALERT ON THE HEELS OF A LAWSUIT FILED THIS MORNING BY THE STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES AGAINST E- CIGARETTE COMPANY JUUL. CHRISTIE: THE SUIT CLAIMS JUUL'S ADVERTISING MISLED CONSUMERS BY FAILING TO WARN THE E-CIGARETTES CONTAINED NICOTINE… AND MISREPRESENTED PRODUCTS AS SAFER ALTERNATIVES TO CIGARETTES. ROD: WHILE HEALTH OFFICIALS ARE WORKING TO IDENTIFY THE EXACT CAUSE OF THE OUTBREAK THE UPSTATE NEW YORK POISON CENTER TELLS NEWSCHANNEL NINE'S NICOLE SOMMAVILLA IT COULD BE LINKED TO A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ADDITIVE. "it's a crisis" NICOLE: CONCERNS OVER VAPING ARE GROWING, WITH MORE CASES OF WHAT DOCTORS CALL "POPCORN LUNG." Michele Caliva: "There was just that case last week where a young man had a double lung transplant." Nicole: "As more people are admitted to emergency rooms all across the country for vaping, the Upstate NY Poison Center is being inundated with calls, more than 100 since August, which they say is significantly more than normal." Michele Caliva: "There are 42 deaths nationwide related to this lung injury related to vaping." Nicole: "In the past few months and the past year it's gotten worse, is there something new in these juices and pens?" Michele: "So that's the big question right, what's being used in these pens, what's happening." NICOLE: SOME SCIENTISTS NOW BELIEVE IT COULD BE VITAMIN E ACETATE — AN OILY CHEMICAL ADDED TO SOME THC VAPING LIQUIDS.
Vicky: "It's marketed as a diluent thickener and it's the same consistency as cannabis oil." Michele: "And then you inhale a product that has a thickening agent, there's worry that you're gonna injure your lungs, you're gonna aspirate it." Nicole: "So what is a safe solution, does that exist?" Michele: "Uh you know again probably not breathing stuff into your lungs." Michele: "Cigarette smoking, it could be years before you develop cancer, with this product it's not gonna be years, it could be a matter of days or weeks." NICOLE: AND THAT'S WHY HEALTH OFFICIALS ARE WORKING SO FAST TO DEAL WITH THIS HEALTH CRISIS. IN SYRACUSE, NICOLE SOMMAVILLA, NEWSCHANNEL NINE. CHRISTIE: E-S-M CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IS HOLDING A FORUM TOMORROW NIGHT FROM 7 TO 8:30 — INVITING PARENTS AND TEENS TO LEARN ABOUT THE DANGERS OF VAPING, AND HOW TO PROTECT THEIR FAMILY'S HEALTH.
ROD: NEW AT SIX — A PRIEST WITH THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF SYRACUSE HAS GONE ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER NEW SEX ABUSE ALLEGATIONS HAVE SURFACED..
