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Comment by jaequery | Hacker News Reader

They can start by listing what type of or what “brand” of ecigs and cartridges these patients were vaping. I don’t know why they won’t just do that, the public deserves to know that information. Like catching a suspect.

And if it is indeed THC related, there’s gotta have some form of traceability in place so it shouldn’t be that hard to find the source of the issue. Something about it all just has a weird vibe to it.

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If I have put the pieces together correctly, they were sketchy THC carts that used a vitamin e oil to achieve super high concentrations of THC (95%) or so. Normal THC carts don't have that high of a concentration. I'm guessing some backyard chemist realized they could cram more in using vitamin e oil over the more standard vape oils used (propylene glycol, etc).

It's not to achieve high concentrations, it's to disguise the fact that it's been cut at all.

Distillate that's minimally cut will typically be very very thick. The more it's cut, the thinner and runnier it will be. Customers figured this out and started equating runny pens with low quality.

Dealers basically responded by using cuts that aren't obvious. This doesn't make the concentration any higher but fools the end user.

Are you sure? Because it's not that easy to dissolve cannabinoids, except in lipids. I haven't been into making carts myself in a number of years, but back when I did the major hassle and challenge was actually getting your extract to dissolve, and people were experimenting with formulations to get better mixtures with less effort and heat.

They say that so far they’ve only seen patients who used THC-based cartridges not nicotine ones. And they suspect it’s caused by some Vitamin E byproduct getting into their lungs.

That's not what the article says at all. It says that they don't know enough yet.

It's been discussed here before, the byproduct was some cheapass copy from China ( because the original one was more expensive)

When most high-tech luxury products are produced in China, it's disingenuous to use China as an example of low quality manufacturing.

There is definitely a problem with the reporting on this story and the CDCs messaging but it's pretty much happening in real time so not everything is a pretty picture yet.

I mean, vaping is not a new thing. And this is contained to the US and not worldwide. Both of those facts should tell us that this is likely an isolated issue, not universal to all e-cigs.

> Reports earlier this week suggested that Vitamin E acetate, a byproduct of the vitamin complex formed during the vaporization process, may be to blame. Delman downplayed this, saying that although they are working with the labs that made that connection, nothing has been established as yet.

> One trend worth noting, however, is that very few of the cases involve only nicotine products; most of the afflicted users reported using THC exclusively or as well as nicotine. This could be the result of many factors, however, so take it with a grain of salt.

So I think you would right to say the way GP phrased it is misleading, but you're definitely wrong to say that it's not what the article says at all.

They are interested often in destroying the industry rather than limiting the harm. The best advice would be followed by all the products which are suspect and advice not to use those products and carefully monitor which products you are using, so that if symptoms appear they know what to try to single out.

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