A 16-year-old died overnight after he was hospitalized earlier in the week due to collapsed lungs that were apparently caused by using electronic cigarettes, it was announced Saturday.
Shortly after the father of Meidan Keller said in a Facebook post that his "dear son" had died, the hospital where the teen was treated said in a statement that he died after "disconnecting himself" from an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which provides cardiac and respiratory assistance.
"Initial details indicate that the boy died after apparently disconnecting himself from the ECMO for an unknown reason," the Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel said.
The hospital said the case had been referred to the Health Ministry for investigation.
Keller's mother had asked Israelis to pray for his health and urged other parents not to let their children use electronic cigarettes, often referred to as vapes.
The Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians called for greater preventive measures to block the sale of tobacco products to children and urged a ban on electronic cigarettes.
"Using electronic cigarettes endangers lives," tweeted Hagai Levine, a leading public health official.
According to the Ynet news site, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has signed an order that the tax should be reduced on electronic cigarettes by 20 percent, despite warnings from health officials.
If the order is not approved by the Knesset's Finance Committee within the next three weeks, the tax will be scrapped altogether, the report said.
In 2019, the Health Ministry considered a total ban on electronic cigarettes due to reports regarding electronic cigarette-related deaths in the US amid a surge in vape usage, particularly among young people.
In June, the US Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of vape products produced by Juul Labs Inc., due to the high levels of nicotine found in the flavored oils produced by the company.
Israel already placed a ban on importing Juul products containing more than 20 milligrams of nicotine in 2018. Electronic cigarette usage remains legal.
Never miss important Israel stories - get the free Times of Israel Daily Edition