Supreme Court to hear dispute over FDA rejection of flavored vapes - SCOTUSblog

The stakes in the case are high: Medical groups, including the American Medical Association, say that the use of flavored e-cigarettes by young people is a “public health crisis.” Members of the vaping industry counter that such products can help adults to quit smoking traditional cigarettes, and they add that a ruling against the companies could “decimate the vaping industry.”

The law at the center of the case is the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Enacted in 2009 to regulate tobacco, it requires authorization from the FDA before a new tobacco product can go on the market. Such authorization requires, among other things, the applicant to show that marketing the product would be “appropriate for the protection of the public health.” The FDA applies that standard by considering “the risks and benefits to the population as a whole,” including both the chances that people who currently use tobacco products will stop doing so and the prospect that people who do not use tobacco products will start to use them.