A potential ban nationwide on e-cigarettes is robbing smokers of a chance to quit says Dr Colin Mendelsohn.

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has placed an interim ban on nicotine-containing e-cigarettes.

Dr Mendelsohn is an associate professor at the University of New South Wales and says the ban denies Australians access to life-saving technology that is estimated to have helped millions of smokers to quit overseas.

He spoke with Oliver Peterson.