Latest news with #e-cigarettes
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Supreme Court Widens Court Options for Vaping Companies Pushing Back Against FDA Rules
The Supreme Court sided with e-cigarette companies on Friday in a ruling making it easier to sue over Food and Drug Administration decisions blocking their products from the multibillion-dollar vaping market. The 7–2 opinion comes as companies push back against a yearslong federal regulatory crackdown on electronic cigarettes. It's expected to give the companies more control over which judges hear lawsuits filed against the agency. The justices went the other way on vaping in an April decision siding with the FDA in a ruling upholding a sweeping block on most sweet-flavored vapes instituted after a spike in youth vaping. The current case was filed by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., which had sold a line of popular berry and menthol-flavored vaping products before the agency started regulating the market under the Tobacco Control Act in 2016. 'The agency refused to authorize the company's Vuse Alto products, an order that sounded the death knell for a significant portion of the e-cigarette market,' Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion. The company is based in North Carolina and typically would have been limited to challenging the FDA in a court there or in the agency's home base of Washington. Instead, it joined forces with Texas businesses that sell the products and sued there. The conservative 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the lawsuit to go forward, finding that anyone whose business is hurt by the FDA decision can sue. The agency appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that R.J. Reynolds was trying to find a court friendly to its arguments–a practice often called 'judge shopping.' The justices, though, found that the law does allow other businesses affected by the FDA decisions, like e-cigarette sellers, to sue in their home states. In a dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said she would have sided with the agency and limited where the cases can be filed. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids called the majority decision 'disappointing,' saying it would allow manufacturers to 'judge shop,' though it said the companies will still have to contend with the Supreme Court's April decision. Attorney Ryan Watson, who represented R.J. Reynolds, said that the court recognized that 'agency decisions can have devastating downstream effects on retailers and other businesses,' and the decision 'ensures that the courthouse doors are not closed to them.'
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Supreme court widens court options for vaping companies pushing back against FDA rules
The Supreme Court sided with e-cigarette companies on Friday in a ruling making it easier to sue over Food and Drug Administration decisions blocking their products from the multibillion-dollar vaping market. The 7-2 opinion comes as companies push back against a yearslong federal regulatory crackdown on electronic cigarettes. It's expected to give the companies more control over which judges hear lawsuits filed against the agency. The justices went the other way on vaping in an April decision, siding with the FDA in a ruling upholding a sweeping block on most sweet-flavored vapes instituted after a spike in youth vaping. The current case was filed by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., which had sold a line of popular berry and menthol-flavored vaping products before the agency started regulating the market under the Tobacco Control Act in 2016. The agency refused to authorize the company's Vuse Alto products, an order that 'sounded the death knell for a significant portion of the e-cigarette market,' Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion. The company is based in North Carolina and typically would have been limited to challenging the FDA in a court there or in the agency's home base of Washington. Instead, it joined forces with Texas businesses that sell the products and sued there. The conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the lawsuit to go forward, finding that anyone whose business is hurt by the FDA decision can sue. The agency appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that R.J. Reynolds was trying to find a court friendly to its arguments, a practice often called 'judge shopping." The justices, though, found that the law does allow other businesses affected by the FDA decisions, like e-cigarette sellers, to sue in their home states. In a dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said she would have sided with the agency and limited where the cases can be filed. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids called the majority decision disappointing, saying it would allow manufacturers to 'judge shop,' though it said the companies will still have to contend with the Supreme Court's April decision. Attorney Ryan Watson, who represented R.J. Reynolds, said that the court recognized that agency decisions can have devastating downstream effects on retailers and other businesses, and the decision 'ensures that the courthouse doors are not closed' to them. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of the Supreme Court at
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Supreme court widens court options for vaping companies pushing back against FDA rules
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with e-cigarette companies on Friday in a ruling making it easier to sue over Food and Drug Administration decisions blocking their products from the multibillion-dollar vaping market. The 7-2 opinion comes as companies push back against a yearslong federal regulatory crackdown on electronic cigarettes. It's expected to give the companies more control over which judges hear lawsuits filed against the agency. The justices went the other way on vaping in an April decision, siding with the FDA in a ruling upholding a sweeping block on most sweet-flavored vapes instituted after a spike in youth vaping. The current case was filed by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., which had sold a line of popular berry and menthol-flavored vaping products before the agency started regulating the market under the Tobacco Control Act in 2016. The agency refused to authorize the company's Vuse Alto products, an order that 'sounded the death knell for a significant portion of the e-cigarette market,' Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion. The company is based in North Carolina and typically would have been limited to challenging the FDA in a court there or in the agency's home base of Washington. Instead, it joined forces with Texas businesses that sell the products and sued there. The conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the lawsuit to go forward, finding that anyone whose business is hurt by the FDA decision can sue. The agency appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that R.J. Reynolds was trying to find a court friendly to its arguments, a practice often called 'judge shopping.' The justices, though, found that the law does allow other businesses affected by the FDA decisions, like e-cigarette sellers, to sue in their home states. In a dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said she would have sided with the agency and limited where the cases can be filed. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids called the majority decision disappointing, saying it would allow manufacturers to 'judge shop,' though it said the companies will still have to contend with the Supreme Court's April decision. Attorney Ryan Watson, who represented R.J. Reynolds, said that the court recognized that agency decisions can have devastating downstream effects on retailers and other businesses, and the decision 'ensures that the courthouse doors are not closed' to them. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of the Supreme Court at
Washington Post
8 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
R.J. Reynolds wins at Supreme Court on how to challenge FDA vape rulings
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected government effort to narrow options for challenging Food and Drug Administration denials of applications to market e-cigarettes, including flavored products that health officials say have led to a youth vaping epidemic. In a case that centered on questions of venue-shopping, the justices ruled 7-2 that tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds was allowed to ask a conservative appeals court far from its North Carolina home to examine an FDA rejection of its bid to market menthol cigarettes. The FDA told the justices that R.J. Reynolds and other e-cigarette manufacturers were gaming court system rules by filing the vast majority of product-denial appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, which is widely seen as more sympathetic to their arguments. The FDA said the tactic was hindering the agency's ability to regulate vapes that are used by hundreds of thousands of teenagers. In the case before the justices, the 5th Circuit overturned the FDA's denial of an R.J. Reynolds application. 'In 2024, by our count … about 75 percent of e-cigarette cases were filed … in the 5th Circuit, all of them by out-of-circuit applicants trying to use the tactic,' Vivek Suri, an assistant to the solicitor general who is representing the FDA, said at oral arguments in January. Under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, manufacturers must get FDA approval to sell some existing products, as well as new products, that are marketed in more than one state. The Vuse line of menthol vapes are the ones in question in the R.J. Reynolds case. Ryan J. Watson, who is representing R.J. Reynolds, told the justices at oral arguments that the company was permitted to file a challenge in the 5th Circuit because the act allows 'any person adversely affected' by a denial to file a challenge in the District of Columbia Circuit or the 'circuit in which such person resides or has their principal place of business.' R.J. Reynolds partnered with a Texas vape store and the Mississippi Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores Association to bring the challenge to the FDA ruling. The 5th Circuit covers Texas and Mississippi, while R.J. Reynolds is in the 4th Circuit. Suri, arguing on behalf of the government, said Congress never meant for retailers to be parties to such litigation when it passed the act. He pointed out that retailers aren't notified when the FDA rejects manufacturers' applications to market vaping products and said the tactic defeats the venue restrictions laid out in the law. In a separate case decided in April, the high court ruled unanimously that the FDA properly rejected applications to market fruit- and dessert-flavored liquids for electronic cigarettes that the agency says are popular with young people and risk them getting hooked on nicotine. The products had names such as 'Jimmy the Juice Man Peachy Strawberry,' 'Suicide Bunny Mother's Milk and Cookies,' 'Iced Lemonade' and 'Killer Kustard Blueberry.' An e-cigarette or vape is a battery-powered device that heats a nicotine-infused liquid, turning it into a vapor that is inhaled. E-cigarettes are generally considered less harmful than traditional cigarettes but still carry health risks. The FDA has moved aggressively to regulate flavored vapes in recent years because of their popularity with young people. A 2024 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that e-cigarettes were the most common tobacco product used by middle-schoolers and high-schoolers. About 1.6 million students use e-cigarettes, according to the survey, which amounts to about 6 percent of the middle and high school population. Nearly 90 percent of those who vape prefer the flavored liquids, according to the survey. Overall, youth vaping has declined significantly after reaching a peak in 2019. This is a developing story. It will be updated.
The Sun
13 hours ago
- The Sun
The 7 major holiday hotspots you'll get a fine of up to £5,600 for vaping – are you heading to one this summer?
VAPING has soared in popularity over the past few years, with users attracted to the brightly coloured packaging and enticing sweet flavours. However, the UK has begun a crackdown on the smoking alternatives, banning single-use vapes earlier this month to stop children getting hooked on the devices and to protect the environment. 2 2 And the UK isn't the only country to enforce laws against vaping, with some of the most visited countries in the world dishing out fines of up to £5600 for using electronic cigarettes. Are you travelling to one of these holiday hotspots this summer? Spain Spain is the country visited most frequently by sun-seeking Brits, but it has strict regulations when it comes to vaping. Although vaping is legal in the sunny nation, any Brits caught vaping on beaches will be find 200 euros (£168). And vaping indoors has an even heftier fine of up to 500 euros (£420). United States Vaping in the US is legal for those over 21 but laws vary from state to state. For example, in Texas vaping is banned in all enclosed public spaces, with those breaking the rules facing a fine of £148. In Illinois, vaping is banned in all indoor places, with rule breakers facing fines of £185. Turkey In Turkey, the sale of vapes and e-liquids are banned, however, you are able to bring your own vapes on holiday with you. You must be over the age of 19 to vape, and vaping is banned in all enclosed public areas, the same as smoking. Vaping inside leaves film of 'thick, toxic slime all over home that can seep through skin' Anyone caught vaping or smoking in public indoor space will face a fine of around £35. Italy In Italy, it is legal to use and purchase vapes if you are over the age of 18. However, the use of electronic cigarettes is banned everywhere that smoking is, such as in enclosed public spaces, on public transport and in open air spaces near minors or pregnant women. Fines for breaking these rules vary across the country, ranging from £23.50 to £234. The 4 horrifying things that can happen to your body after vaping VAPES were once hailed as miracle devices to help adults ditch cigarettes. But while the devices don't carry the same risks as tobacco, experts have warned that vaping might not be so harmless after all. Here are five ways vaping could damage young users bodies: 1. It could slow down brain development Vaping nicotine can permanently affect brain development in people under the age of 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It said that nicotine consumed during teenage years can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control, as well as increase the risk of addiction. 2. It could lead to tooth decay Dr Michael Heffernan, a dentist at The Wessex Dental Specialist Care, said most vapes contain dangerous chemical that can harm your teeth and lead to decay. Puffing on the devices could also lead to mouth dryness, creating an environment in which harmful bacteria can grow. 3. It could damage heart health However, some of the chemicals found in vapes can be damaging to the heart, with the American Heart Association (AHA) stating that vaping is "as harmful to the body's cardiovascular systems as cigarettes". 4. It could cause lung disease Vaping from a young age could leave children with breathing difficulties, with paediatric respiratory consultant Dr Mike McKean saying he'd seen reports of people developing lung disease related to vaping. Researchers from the US also found that young people who vape are more at risk of bronchitis, inflammation of the airways, and shortness of breath. Read more on how vaping can affect your health here. Mexico In Mexico there is a total ban on the sale import and distribution of vapes. Using vapes for personal use is often treated as a grey area, but bringing vapes into the country is classed as importing, which is illegal. Fines for vaping in public range from £37 to £222. Japan In Japan, e-cigarettes containing nicotine have been banned since 2010. Vapes without nicotine in them are legal for anyone regardless of age, as there are no laws against them. Anyone caught vaping outside designated areas could be hit with a fine of up to £5600. Thailand In Thailand, there is a total ban on vapes, under strict laws which have been in place since 2014. Anyone caught using a vape could face up to five years in prison, and a fine of four times the product's value.
