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Sunday, February 17, 2019

Gottlieb summon Juul executives to discuss ‘inconsistent’ public statements

February 6, 2019
Kevin Bums
Chief Executive Officer
JUUL Labs, Inc.
560 20th Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
Dear Mr. Bums:
I am writing to request a meeting with you regarding representations that you made in a meeting
with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) senior leadership on October 16, 2018, and in an
“Action Plan” that followed, in which you described steps that JUUL Labs, Inc. would take to
help address the mounting epidemic of youth addiction to tobacco products.
After Altria Group, Inc. ‘ s acquisition of a 35 percent ownership interest in JUUL, many of
JUUL’s public statements seem inconsistent with its previous representations to the FDA. When
we meet, JUUL should be prepared to explain how this acquisition by Altria affects the
commitments you made to the FDA about addressing the crisis of youth use ofJUUL products.
I am aware ofdeeply concerning data showing that youth use ofJUUL products represents a
significant proportion ofthe overall use of e-cigarette products by children. I have no reason to
believe these youth patterns ofuse are abating in the near term, and they certainly do not appear
to be reversing. Manufacturers have an independent responsibility to take action to address the
epidemic of youth use oftheir products.
My office will contact you to arrange a meeting to discuss these issues. Pursuant to a request we
received from Altria, we intend to schedule a joint meeting to include both JUUL and Altria.
Sincerely,
Scott Gottlieb, M.D.
Commissioner of Food and Drugs
cc:
Jerry Masoudi
Chief Legal Officer, JUUL Labs, Inc.

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