E-cigarettes win first approval as a 'medicine' opening way for prescription by the NHS

Medicines regulator approves brand of 'vaping' cigarette but GPs warn it could put pressure on surgeries

Public health experts are sharply divided about e‑cigarettes Photo: ALAMY

E-cigarettes have been granted a licence by Britain’s medicines regulator for the first time, opening the door for them to be prescribed on the NHS.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has awarded a licence to British American Tobacco for its e-Voke device that will allow it to be marketed as a smoking cessation aid.

"GPs would be very wary of prescribing them until there was clear evidence of their safety and of their efficacy in helping people to quit."

Dr Tim Ballard

Despite mixed evidence on the safety of the “vaping” devices – which vaporise nicotine fluid using an electronic battery – GPs could now prescribe the e-Voke to smokers in a bid to divert them from traditional cigarettes, the Sunday Times (£)reported.A spokeswoman for British American Tobacco said: "Nicovations Limited, part of British American Tobacco's Next Generation Products division, has been granted a licence by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency for its rechargeable electronic cigarette, e-Voke.

A growing number of secondary schools are banning e-cigarettes over fears that they are being used by pupils to start smoking.

“E-Voke uses cartridges containing pharmaceutical grade nicotine.

“We are now reviewing the commercialisation of e-Voke."

Last month researchers at the University of California published a study which concluded vaping is no safer that smoking after they created an extract from the ‘smoke’ of e-cigarettes and used it to treat human cells in a lab.

They found e-cigarette vapour damages DNA in ways that could lead to cancer.

The World Health Organisation and scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Liverpool has also expressed concerned about their safety.

But last year Public Health England urged smokers to switch to vaping, saying e-cigarettes were far safer than traditional tobacco.

Dr Tim Ballard, the vice-chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, called for more research to be carried out before patients are told they can get e-cigarettes on the NHS.

Demand risked placing a massive burden on GPs, he added.

"Potentially, there may be a place for the prescription of e-Voke as part of a smoking cessation programme, but GPs would be very wary of prescribing them until there was clear evidence of their safety and of their efficacy in helping people to quit," Dr Ballard said.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "The best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking. We keep all the latest evidence under review."