NEW: CDC Reports First Vaping-Related Death in Rhode Island

NEW: CDC Reports First Vaping-Related Death in Rhode Island

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting Rhode Island’s first vaping-related death. 

The CDC reported that as of December 17, 2019, a total of 2,506 cases of hospitalized e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) have been reported to CDC from 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands) -- which now includes Rhode Island. 

“Fifty-four deaths have been confirmed in 27 states and the District of Columbia as of December 17, 2019,” said the CDC reporting the following:

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Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.

Rhode Island Department of Health spokesperson Joseph Wendelken told GoLocal the following on Thursday. 

“Yes, that report was made of the Rhode Island Department of Health. A Rhode Islander in their 70s who passed away earlier this month has been added to the CDC’s investigation into lung injury and vaping,” said Wendelken. “We do not know the degree to which e-cigarette or vaping product use contributed to this person’s death. However, the CDC is including this fatality in its investigation because the individual had a history of e-cigarette related lung injury.”

“At this point, the CDC is casting a very wide net and is trying to gather as much information as possible on every case,” he added.

This story was first published 12/19/19 2:30 PM