Marijuana

US health officials report 3rd vaping death, repeat warning

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 2, 2018, an illustration shows a man exhaling smoke from an electronic cigarette in Washington, DC. - A third person has died in the United States as a result of a severe lung illness that has sickened hundreds of e-cigarette users, or vapers, health authorities in Indiana said on September 6, 2019. "The death, which occurred in an individual older than age 18, was confirmed Sept. 5," the Indiana State Department of Health said in a statement. It said Indiana was investigating 30 cases of severe lung injury linked to vaping. US health officials said Friday that black market cannabis products could be the cause of the mysterious outbreak of lung disease that has forced some teen vapers into medically-induced comas. (Photo by EVA HAMBACH / AFP)EVA HAMBACH/AFP/Getty Images
EVA HAMBACH/AFP/Getty Images

NEW YORK — US health officials are again urging people to stop vaping until they figure out why some are coming down with serious breathing illnesses.

Officials on Friday said they had identified 450 possible illnesses, including at least three deaths, in 33 states. The count includes a newly reported death in Indiana.

Health officials say no single vaping device, liquid or ingredient has been tied to all the illnesses. Many of the sickened — but not all — were people who had been vaping THC, the chemical that gives marijuana its high.

Advertisement

A week ago, US officials pegged the number at 215 possible cases in 25 states. Health officials have only been counting certain lung illnesses in which the person had vaped within three months. Most are teens.