US
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is being sued by seven public health groups and several pediatricians for delaying regulation of e-cigarettes and some tobacco products.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Truth Initiative, American Academy of Pediatrics, Democracy Forward, and several individual pediatricians brought the suit in late March 2018 in a Maryland federal court, calling FDA’s guidance “arbitrary and capricious and not the product of reasoned decision making.”
The plaintiffs claim the agency abdicated and rewrote its responsibilities granted under the Tobacco Control Act. They also maintain the agency issued the rule without required public input.
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids president, Matthew Myers, said, “Our concern is that we can’t leave our kids vulnerable while FDA waits for e-cig manufacturers to apply.” Myers also said that they hoped FDA would reverse its decision, but after multiple conversations and inaction in the months since, they realized their only option was litigation.