FDA
tobacco chief speaks at industry meeting
WFAA - May 16, 2013
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) Changes in the marketplace have forced the public
health community to wrestle with the idea that some tobacco products
may pose less of a health risk than others, the new head of the Food
and Drug Administration's tobacco control efforts told an industry group
on Thursday. Mitch Zeller, who took over as director of the FDA's Center
for Tobacco Products in March, also told attendees at the Tobacco Merchants
Association annual meeting in Williamsburg that the agency is making
progress on a backlog of more than 3,500 new product applications, how
it plans to address menthol cigarettes and its plans to regulate other
tobacco products like cigars and electronic cigarettes. "You all
sell a lawful product," Zeller said. "Our job is to regulate
the manufacture, sale and marketing of the tobacco products within our
jurisdiction. And we try to do it efficiently, effectively and fairly."
EDITORIAL:
Wins and Losses in the Fight Against Tobacco
New York Times - April 29, 2013
Cigarette packages are unlikely to carry graphic warning labels anytime
soon as a result of separate actions by the Supreme Court and the Food
and Drug Administration. That is a setback, though perhaps temporary,
for the federal governments campaign to reduce the health damage caused
by this highly lethal product. The silver lining is that the Supreme
Court left intact most of the F.D.A.s powers to regulate this industry.
FDA
to take action soon on tobacco decisions
Winston-Salem Journal - April 24, 2013
WASHINGTON - The new health regulator in charge of tobacco said the
Food ... major decisions from the effects of menthol to the marketability
of newer products. ... the agency's authority over e-cigarettes, cigars
and other tobacco products.
High
court keeps tobacco marketing restrictions intact
fox6now.com - April 22, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court turned aside an appeal from tobacco companies
seeking to block a federal law that further restricts the marketing,
packaging and event promotion of cigarettes.
Supreme
Court Lets FDA Move Forward with Graphic Cigarette Warnings and Other
Tobacco Regulations
Sacramento Bee - April 22, 2013
WASHINGTON, April 22, 2013 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following
is a statement of Susan M. Liss, Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free
... In a victory for the nation's health, the U.S. Supreme Court today
let stand an appellate court ruling that upheld most provisions of the
landmark 2009 law granting the Food and Drug Administration authority
over tobacco products, including the requirement for large, graphic
cigarette warning labels. The Supreme Court declined to hear the tobacco
industry's appeal of a March 2012 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Sixth Circuit.
Justices
decline to hear tobacco warning law challenge
Terra.com - April 22, 2013
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a tobacco industry challenge
to a federal law that expanded restrictions on the advertising and marketing
of cigarettes. Those challenging the provisions of the 2009 Family Smoking
Prevention and Tobacco Control Act included companies owned in part
or in full by Reynolds American Inc, British American Tobacco Plc, Imperial
Tobacco Group Plc and Lorillard Inc.
Justices
decline to hear challenge to tobacco law
Reuters - April 22, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a tobacco industry
challenge to a federal law that expanded restrictions on the advertising
and marketing of cigarettes. The provisions of the 2009 Family Smoking
Prevention and Tobacco Control Act ...
FDA
loosens restrictions on nicotine replacement products
Yahoo! News (blog) - April 1, 2013
The FDA plans to remove both these restrictions in response to claims
by critics that they may cause some smokers to abandon attempts to quit
if they have a ...
Rising
sales of e-cigarettes spur call for regulations
The Hill - February 28, 2013
An anti-smoking group is renewing pressure on federal regulators to
examine the safety of electronic cigarettes. The American Cancer Society
Cancer Action Network wants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to
investigate how the devices work, what ingredients they contain and
the potential effects they could have on users. ...
FDA
veteran to spearhead tobacco regulatory efforts; current director to
step down in March
Minneapolis Star Tribune - February 22, 2013
RICHMOND, Va. - A Food and Drug Administration veteran who helped spearhead
efforts to regulate the tobacco industry in the 1990s is taking over
the agency's Center for Tobacco Products. Mitch Zeller will become the
center's director on March 4, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said
in an internal memo sent late Thursday and confirmed by The Associated
Press.
.
FDA
should do more with its authority over tobacco products
Washington Post - February 5, 2013
IN 2009, PRESIDENT Obama signed the Tobacco Control Act, which gave
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products.
It was a signal moment in the fight against smoking. Tobacco use is
the leading cause of preventable death in the country, racking up 400,000
premature deaths in America every year and holding 40 million Americans
in the grip of addiction. After decades of education campaigns, cessation
programs and increasing taxes, the U.S. smoking rate is stuck at about
a fifth of the adult population. And after a string of headline-worthy
achievements, the FDAs tobacco program has been a little quiet
lately.
So far, the agency has asserted authority over only cigarettes
and smokeless tobacco, not products such as cigars, pipe tobacco or
e-cigarettes. Until it claims broader jurisdiction, it cant compel
the examination of ingredients and assess their relative lethality,
let alone regulate more aggressively.
Court
upholds block on graphic cigarette warnings
MyrtleBeachOnline August 24, 2012
A federal appeals court on Friday left intact a court judgment that
ordered tobacco companies to do corrective advertising about the dangers
of smoking.
Medical
News: FDA Issues Long List of Harmful Tobacco Components
MedPage Today, 2010-08-27
John Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today
Forget tar and nicotine -- the FDA is proposing to list as harmful
or potentially harmful more than 100 chemicals found in tobacco and
tobacco smoke, paving the way for tighter regulation of commercial tobacco
products.
The agency's Center for Tobacco Products released the draft list in
advance of an advisory committee meeting Monday to review proposed criteria
for classifying tobacco and smoke components as harmful. . . .
The 100-plus compounds -- ranging from acetaldehyde to vinyl chloride
-- identified in briefing documents by the FDA staff already appear
on lists of hazardous chemicals developed by the Environmental Protection
Agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National
Toxicology Program, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety
and Health.
Tobacco and its smoke contain a bewildering array of organic compounds
as well as elemental heavy metals including lead, cobalt, cadmium, and
even uranium (including the weapons-grade isotope, U-235).
The agency will ask the committee's guidance in determining how much
weight to put on those lists and the research on which they're based,
which was often animal studies with "limited evidence" for
human health effects. ...