According to a
Wall Street Journal article, Judge Leon has ruled in the Smoking Everywhere et Njoy lawsuit against the FDA and found that the FDA does not have authority over electronic cigarettes. Here is the full text of the article:
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By Jared A. Favole
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–A U.S. judge said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t have authority to regulate electronic cigarettes, dealing a blow to the agency’s efforts to regulate tobacco products as drugs or devices.
In a 32-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon sided with electronic cigarette maker Smoking Everywhere Inc. in finding that the FDA has no authority to regulate the products and can’t stop them from entering the country.
“This case appears to be yet another example of FDA’s aggressive efforts to regulate recreational tobacco products as drugs or devices,” Leon said in his ruling. He added the FDA’s “tenacious drive to maximize its regulatory power has resulted in its advocacy of an interpretation of the relevant law that I find, at first blush, to be unreasonable and unacceptable.”
The FDA has seized shipments of electronic cigarettes, which look and taste like cigarettes but don’t contain tar. Smoking Everywhere, one of the largest makers of electronic cigarettes, had challenged the FDA’s authority over the products.
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