Tobacco: Selected Legal Issues

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About Tobacco: Selected Legal Issues

Over the past decade, the courts and the Congress have been grappling with tobacco-related issues. Among these issues are the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) attempt to regulate certain tobacco products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA); the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) that resulted from lawsuits brought by states attorneys general against tobacco companies; federal, private party, and foreign lawsuits against tobacco companies; limits on tobacco advertising; and restrictions on selling and distributing tobacco to minors. During the 110th Congress, legislators have introduced several bills that address some of the above issues, including H.R. 1108, S. 625, S. 1162, and S.Con.Res. 21.The FDCA gives the FDA authority to regulate food, drugs, devices, and cosmetics. In 1996, the FDA promulgated a final rule stating that, under the FDCA, it could regulate cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court, however, found that Congress had not given the FDA regulatory power over tobacco and overturned the final rule in FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.In the 1990s, states attorneys general brought lawsuits for reimbursement of their states’ tobacco-related medical expenses. The states attorneys general and the tobacco companies reached a settlement in 1997, but this settlement never garnered the congressional approval needed for implementation. In 1998, however, 46 states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and the tobacco industry signed the MSA, worth $206 billion over 26 years.In 1999, the Clinton Administration filed a lawsuit against major tobacco companies and industry trade groups to recoup federal tobacco-related medical costs. In August 2006, the district court held that the tobacco companies violated two Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) claims and, among other remedies, ordered them to remove descriptors such as light, low tar, natural,