Shady Facebook Post about Person Killed by E-Cigarettes Goes Viral
As if all the disinformation from anti-smoking groups and the media weren’t bad enough, now we have random people posting about e-cigarette -related deaths on Facebook. And you wouldn’t believe the attention this stuff is getting right now.
So here’s the deal. Late last month, someone posted a status update on Facebook about one of her neighbors who had recently died from what she claimed was suffocation caused by electronic cigarettes. Here’s the exact posting: “Just returned from our neighbors memorial service. She died of suffocation, the oil from the vapor ciggaretts coated the folliculs in her lungs. The Dr’s at Mayo could not remove the oil. She was only 67. Beware of vapor and E-ciggaretts.”
Please ignore the awful typos and focus on the message. This is serious stuff! Only there are a few things that don’t add up. First of all, let’s say you don’t know anything about what e-liquid contains and you fall for the whole lungs-covered-in-oil bit. With all the negative e-cigarette propaganda going on right now, shouldn’t the media be all over this if it were true? There should be news reports, and warnings about how e-cigs are deadly and we should all stay away from them. And yet, after doing extensive research online, I couldn’t find anything confirming the Facebook status update.
Well, there was this article on Snopes.com, the internet’s go-to website to check the authenticity of rumors and popular so-called facts doing the rounds online. They picked up the controversial message above, after it got – get this – shared over 50,000 times on the popular social network, and decided to investigate. With so few details offered by the person who posted the message and no other sources to back the authenticity of this claim, they could have easily labeled it as a hoax and moved on. But they actually contacted Mayo Clinic for confirmation (but apparently have not heard back from them yet) and provided scientific evidence that the lung inflammation mentioned in the message could not have been caused by vaporized e-liquid.
The lady who posted the message probably meant to suggest her neighbor died from lipoid pneumonia, but that is not a condition commonly associated with e-cigarettes. Unless the deceased used to vape essential oil, weed oil, or any other kind of oil, there is virtually no way it was caused by e-cigarettes. Lipoid pneumonia is usually caused by the inhalation of oil, and there is none in e-liquid. Sure, some juices may appear oily, due to the viscosity of vegetable glycerin, but they actually contain no oil at all. As the Snopes article clearly states “vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol are the only base liquids widely considered acceptable for use as a base in e-cigarette liquids.”
Unfortunately, the person who posted the status update only allows her Facebook friends to comment on her posts, but many vapers have reportedly tried messaging her directly asking for more details. So far, she doesn’t appear to be answering. Which is a shame, because her short, poorly written, deceitful message is causing quite the ruckus online right now.
At the time of this writing, the message has been shared over 84,000 times, and dozens of e-cigarette users have taken to forums to complain about getting the message shared on their Facebook walls by friends worried about their well-being. The most educated of them tried explaining that their worries were unfounded, but who knows how many others actually gave up e-cigarettes and went back to smoking because of this one stupid Facebook post.
To be honest, I don’t think the person who posted this has an agenda concerning electronic cigarettes. As others in the vaping community have pointed out, she hasn’t posted anything else about e-cigs before. She probably just heard someone else talk about what killed her neighbor and how e-cigarettes are as dangerous if not more so than analogs and decided to post the new-found knowledge on Facebook. I’m willing to bet she had no idea her post would go viral. However she does seem very convinced that e-cigs are bad for you, as when some of her friends asked if they could share the status update, she answered “Please do. That was the purpose of this post. The Mayo Dr’s said her lungs were clear other wise,” and “Please share, that was the purpose of this post. Who knew, she thought the vapor ciggaretts would be better than smoking. The Mayo Dr’s said her lungs were clear otherwise.” Like she had actually talked to the Mayo Clinic doctors herself…
The ones who are really to blame here are organizations like the FDA, CDC and World Health Organization, who for the last few years have done nothing but spread lies and misinformation about electronic cigarettes, for reasons known only by them. This is proof that their plan is actually working. A recent survey published in the Harm Reduction Journal revealed that almost half of American adults now think e-cigarettes are as hazardous or more hazardous than smoking. Scientific evidence clearly shows otherwise, but unfounded propganda seems a lot more convincing when coming from such trusted organizations.
I am going say this is all BS first off to the best of my knowledge e-cig liquid does not contain “oil” or any sort. Glycerol and glycerin are food not a oil base. I use Polite-cig and I know for a fact there are NO oils in their products!
People please understand at least this- cigarettes are absolutely without doubt killers, it’s widely known. Based on that 1 FACT that everybody does know, how can common sense not kick in and say hey, any alternative is probably better?
It’s just so obvious.