--- title: CDC:The Vaping-Related Lung Disease Outbreak May Be Ending description: The vaping-related lung disease outbreak has peaked and may be coming to an end. Vitamin E acetate in THC products seems to blame. canonical: https://time.com/5753947/vaping-lung-disease-outbreak-peak/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-20T18:03:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:57:40.340Z article:section: Health og:title: The Vaping-Related Lung Disease Outbreak May Be Coming to an End og:description: Vitamin E acetate in THC products seems largely to blame og:url: https://time.com/5753947/vaping-lung-disease-outbreak-peak/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53482737eaa1d107/698a07e097cdff3c2f6ba11a/vaping-outbreak.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Man vaping og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Vaping-Related Lung Disease Outbreak May Be Coming to an End twitter:description: Vitamin E acetate in THC products seems largely to blame twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53482737eaa1d107/698a07e097cdff3c2f6ba11a/vaping-outbreak.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Vaping-Related Lung Disease Outbreak May Be Coming to an End > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=788ebf6a-8fa6-4416-b8fa-7db692408192&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Dec 20, 2019 6:03 PM UTC  SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MAY 05: Matt blows vapor from an e-cigarette at Gone With the Smoke Vapor Lounge on May 5, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced new federal regulations on electronic cigarettes that will be the same as traditional tobacco cigarettes and chewing tobacco. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MAY 05: Matt blows vapor from an e-cigarette at Gone With the Smoke Vapor Lounge on May 5, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced new federal regulations on electronic cigarettes that will be the same as traditional tobacco cigarettes and chewing tobacco. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Dec 20, 2019 6:03 PM UTC The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced Friday with new confidence that vitamin E acetate seems to be largely to blame for the vaping-related lung illness outbreak that swept the country—at the same time it announced the outbreak seems to be approaching its end. As of the CDC’s [latest update](https://time.com/5692387/vaping-related-death-toll/), 2,506 people in the U.S. and its territories have been hospitalized for “e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury” (EVALI), and 54 people have died. Most of these cases seem to have occurred in people who used products containing the [marijuana compound THC](https://time.com/5688229/cdc-thc-vaping-deaths/), the majority purchased from black-market sources. Products spiked with the oily additive vitamin E acetate, which is sometimes used to stretch a product’s THC content, have been seen as the leading culprit. Building upon [prior findings](https://time.com/5692387/vaping-related-death-toll/), CDC researchers published [a report](https://cdf.nejm.org/services/GetOnlineFirstPDF.aspx?DOI=NEJMoa1916433) about vitamin E acetate in the _New England Journal of Medicine_ Friday. Researchers tested lung fluid samples from 51 patients with EVALI from 16 states, as well as from a control group of 99 healthy subjects, some of whom smoked or vaped. They found vitamin E acetate in 48 of the 51 samples from EVALI patients, and in none of the healthy control samples. The fact that EVALI patients showing signs of vitamin E acetate exposure came from 16 different states suggests one supplier or dealer is not to blame for the injuries, CDC Principal Deputy Director Dr. Anne Schuchat said on a call with reporters Friday. It’s not exactly clear how vitamin E acetate could cause lung issues, but Schuchat said there are two leading theories. One is that the oily substance disrupts the lining of the lungs, interfering with their ability to expand. The other is that a byproduct produced by vitamin E acetate during the vaping process could cause a chemical injury to the lungs. Though Schuchat said vitamin E acetate seems to be behind most of the EVALI cases, she cautioned that “this does not mean there are not other substances in e-cigarette or vaping products that have or are capable of causing lung injuries,” especially since some patients have reported using only e-cigarettes containing nicotine. The CDC also announced some good news on the call, and in [a separate paper](https://cdf.nejm.org/services/GetOnlineFirstPDF.aspx?DOI=NEJMsr1915313) also published in _NEJM_. “While we continue to receive reports \[of EVALI\],” Schuchat said, “the level of new cases is greatly reduced, and has been declining since a peak in September.” At the same time, though, the CDC reported evidence of a troubling trend. A small but significant number of EVALI patients have seen their symptoms worsen, or even grow fatal, after being discharged from the hospital. Thirty-one patients were readmitted to hospitals after discharge, and seven patients died after being discharged. Elderly patients, as well as those with preexisting chronic conditions, seem to be at highest risk for readmission, Schuchat said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5753947/vaping-lung-disease-outbreak-peak/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5753947/vaping-lung-disease-outbreak-peak/"},"headline":"The Vaping-Related Lung Disease Outbreak May Be Coming to an End","datePublished":"2019-12-20T18:03:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:57:40.340Z","description":"The vaping-related lung disease outbreak has peaked and may be coming to an end. 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