Letter: Read between the lines
Readers should always maintain a critical eye when consuming news stories and opinion pieces. Consider Veronique de Rugy's July 1 piece arguing against the FDA's ban on Juul nicotine vaping products.
Although de Rugy has no medical or science training, she claims that Juul products are a "benefit to public health." To reach this conclusion, she glosses over the fact that nicotine can have serious, even fatal health effects, regardless of how it's ingested. (A cursory online search provides ample evidence from numerous reputable health organizations.)
She supports her argument by citing press releases from the Reason Foundation (a longtime supporter of the tobacco industry founded and funded by the Koch brothers), and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, another Washington-based group with long ties to tobacco disinformation campaigns.
The Herald does its readers no service by disseminating her wild claims that the FDA action will kill thousands of smokers and benefit "tobacco companies, contraband dealers and health-care providers" forced to continue treating "captive" smokers. It makes this reader wonder about the real agenda behind de Rugy's work - and how closely the Herald's editors vet the syndicated opinion pieces they choose to publish.
Robert Cruz
Chicago