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Good morning. Thinking about sour cream and onion chips again.
When puff-puff-pass turns quid-pro-quo
A Democratic senator has launched an inquiry into the Trump administration’s recent actions on flavored vapes and kratom, alleging a pattern of quid pro quo’s after industry players made large donations to presidential campaigns for Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
This spring, the FDA released a new, permissive policy on flavored vape products that many critics called a get-out-of-jail-free card for manufacturers. And as health secretary, Kennedy has reportedly tried to discourage Ohio’s governor from cracking down on kratom products. How much could money have influenced these moves? Read more from STAT’s Sarah Todd on the questions Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has posed to the president, the health secretary, and industry leaders to get to the bottom of it.
