US Vaping Deaths Pass 50

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released figures Thursday (December 12th) showing that the number of deaths in the U.S. from the vaping illness outbreak across the country has passed 50. There have been 52 deaths among 2,409 cases of people who've been hospitalized. The median age of those who've died since the outbreak appears to have begun in March is 52, but most of those who've suffered lung damage have been much younger, half of them in their teens or early 20s. Most of the cases took place in August and September, but the CDC said new cases are still being reported, including 118 in the past week. Most of those affected said they vaped products containing THC, which produces the high from marijuana. The CDC has gradually focused in on black-market THC cartridges, and on vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent added to illegal THC vaping liquids that's commonly found in the lungs of sick patients and in the products they vaped.