Just before the first cases of the novel coronavirus began popping up in the U.S. around this time last year, public-health agencies’ biggest concern seemed to be e-cigarettes.
In January 2020, the Food and Drug Administration announced stringent bans on many of these nicotine-vapor products, teenagers’ use of which former FDA director Scott Gottlieb called an “epidemic.” That same month, the Centers for Disease Control ended its months-long recommendation that all Americans avoid e-cigarettes, after mistakenly blaming them for causing several thousand cases of lung injury nationwide. Other CDC initiatives in 2019 had included examining what foods should be sold at highway rest stops, encouraging urban planners to build more walking-friendly cities, and trying to influence how Hollywood portrays epidemics.
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