Setback for vapor products

In a 93-page ruling, US district judge Amy Berman Jackson has upheld the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to regulate vapor devices and cigars in the way that cigarettes are regulated, according to a story in the Washington Post relayed by the TMA.

Jackson concluded the agency had “acted within the scope of its statutory authority”.

She rejected arguments by Nicopure Labs and the Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition, which includes the American Vaping Association, vapor companies and trade groups, that said the FDA’s creation of the Deeming Rules exceeded its authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

Under the FDA rule, she said, vapor manufacturers “are now required to tell the 30 million people who use the devices what is actually in the liquid being vaporized and inhaled”.

“We are still reviewing judge Jackson’s opinion,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. “The legal and legislative processes are both long roads with plenty of bumps along the way. The fight to save vaping is far from over.”

Attorney Azim Chowdhury, representing the Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition, said in a tweet that they were considering appeal options.