TobaccoReporter logo

Tag: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

  • Phelps to Lead CTP Policy and Partnerships

    Phelps to Lead CTP Policy and Partnerships

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products has selected Natasha Phelps as the center’s associate director for policy and partnerships. She will assume her new role on May 6.

    Phelps comes to the CTP from The Center for Black Health & Equity, where she served as the director of equity-centered policies. Prior to this, Phelps spent five years at the Public Health Law Center, where she specialized in commercial tobacco law and policy.

    Phelps received her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and legal studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    According to the FDA, Phelps was selected after an extensive nationwide search, multiple interview panels that evaluated a well-qualified applicant pool, and clearance through agency ethics and security processes.

  • FDA Urged to Follow the Science

    FDA Urged to Follow the Science

    Photo: Pixel-Shot

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) should open the marketplace for electronic nicotine delivery systems to products with varied characteristics so that those interested in alternative nicotine products can access them, according to R Street resident senior fellow Jeffrey Smith.

    In a recently published analysis, Smith critiques the FDA’s disregard for the current research on ENDS, diving into new data that he says represents a “tectonic-shift in the academic medicine community” regarding the safety of ENDS for smoking cessation. 

    ”As evidence grows for the utility of ENDS and other potentially life-saving alternative products, the CTP continues to limit Americans’ access to these products,” writes Smith.

    “Though the CTP has received millions of applications for ENDS products, it has only allowed a few to be marketed legally in the United States. Of those that have received marketing clearance, only older closed systems have been approved—with tobacco as the only permitted flavor.”

    Arguing that a diverse range of ENDS products available to those who smoke and want to quit is critical to reducing the health burdens associated with smoking, Smith urges the CTP to revise its processes and procedures, and allow more cigarette alternatives on the market. Continued delay by the CTP, he says, will only lead to more unnecessary deaths and disease in the United States.

  • More FDA Warnings

    More FDA Warnings

    Photo: Ljupco Smokovski

    The violations involve products sold under the Elf Bar/EB Design/EB Create, Funky Republic, Lost Mary brands.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned five more online retailers for selling flavored disposable vaping products.

    On Feb. 28, the regulatory agency announced that the warning letters cite the sale of disposable e-cigarette products marketed under popular brand names such as Elf Bar/EB Design/EB Create, Funky Republic, Lost Mary, Hyde, Breeze and Cali Bars, according to a press release.

    “Protecting our nation’s youth from the harms of tobacco products is crucial to our center’s public health mission,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products in a statement. “We’re committed to continuing to use a data-driven approach to identify and prevent the sale of unauthorized tobacco products and to take compliance and enforcement action when appropriate.”

  • Penalties for Unauthorized Elf Bars

    Penalties for Unauthorized Elf Bars

    Photo: mehaniq41

    On Feb. 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the filing of complaints for civil money penalties (CMPs) against 20 brick-and-mortar retailers for the sale of unauthorized Elf Bar e-cigarettes. The FDA previously issued each retailer a warning letter relating to their sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes. However, follow-up inspections revealed that the retailers had failed to correct the violations, and the agency is now seeking the maximum penalty amount of $20,678 for a single violation from each retailer.

    Including these complaints, the FDA has filed more than 100 CMP complaints against retailers for the illegal sale of Elf Bar e-cigarettes. Data indicate these products are appealing to youth. According to the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey, Elf Bar was the most commonly used brand among U.S. youth e-cigarette users; among middle and high school students who reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, more than half said they used Elf Bar products during that period.

    “These retailers have not adequately addressed the violations noted in previous warnings from FDA regarding the sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “Their continued failure to comply with the law is inexcusable, and as is evidenced by today’s actions, we’re committed to holding them accountable for it.”

    As of Feb. 15, the FDA has issued more than 440 warning letters to and filed 100 CMP actions against retailers, including brick-and-mortar and online retailers, for selling unauthorized tobacco products. In addition to actions involving retailers, the FDA has issued more than 660 warning letters to manufacturers, importers and distributors for illegally selling and/or distributing unauthorized new tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The agency has also filed CMP complaints against 50 e-cigarette firms for manufacturing unauthorized products and sought injunctions in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice against seven manufacturers of unauthorized e-cigarette products.

  • FDA Appeals Premium Cigar Ruling

    FDA Appeals Premium Cigar Ruling

    Photo: poco_bw

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 31 appealed an August 2023 court ruling vacating the agency’s decision to regulate premium cigars, reports Halfwheel.

    The court ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Cigar Association of America, the Cigar Rights of America and the Premium Cigar Association (PCA).

    In 2022, Judge Amit Mehta issued an opinion examining the rulemaking record and detailing the FDA’s failure to address evidence in the record showing that premium cigars have different usage patterns, with different resulting health effects, than other cigars. Mehta later ruled that the FDA’s mishandling of significant questions that the FDA itself asked in its proposed rule merited vacating it, as the FDA never made a nonarbitrary decision to regulate premium cigars.

    In its appeal, the FDA urges the court to elevate deference to the agency’s “scientific judgment” over its duty of explanation under the Administrative Procedure Act. The FDA also argues that Mehta should have sent the flawed rule back to the agency to fix it while allowing the FDA to continue regulating premium cigar retailers and manufacturers under the arbitrary rule in the meantime.

    In a statement, the PCA said it would be responding to the FDA’s arguments and defending Mehta’s opinion in a forthcoming filing with the D.C. Circuit Court. A hearing before three judges of the appellate court is likely to follow.

  • Liquid Makers Get Another Shot at PTMA

    Liquid Makers Get Another Shot at PTMA

    Photo: alexkich

    Two e-liquid companies will be able to resubmit their marketing applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration following a court ruling, reports Bloomberg Law.

    On Jan. 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the FDA acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in rejecting the premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) of Wages and White Lion Investments, doing business as Triton Distribution, and Vapetasia for approval to sell their products in the United States.

    The agency “sent manufacturers of flavored e-cigarette products on a wild goose chase,” telling them what would be needed to approve their products, and then denying all applications, the court said in an opinion by Judge Andrew S. Oldham. The FDA “never gave petitioners fair notice that they needed to conduct long-term studies on their specific flavored products,” Oldham said.

    In a dissenting opinion, Judge Catharina Haynes said the agency “properly fulfilled its statutory mandate by considering the relevant portions of Petitioners’ PMTAs and coming to a reasonable conclusion that marketing Petitioners’ products is not appropriate for public health.”

  • Warnings for Vapes Resembling Alcohol

    Warnings for Vapes Resembling Alcohol

    Image: FDA

    On Dec. 20, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to three online retailers for selling and/or distributing unauthorized e-cigarettes that imitate packaging for bottles of alcohol. These retailers sold Luckee Vape Daniels brands, which are flavored disposable e-cigarette products that come in a variety of common alcoholic drink flavors that may be appealing to young people, including icy pina colada, frozen strawberry daiquiri, frozen mangorita and watermelon martini.

    Data from the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey indicate that disposable products are the most commonly used type of e-cigarettes among U.S. middle and high school students. Among current youth e-cigarette users, approximately nine in 10 reported using flavors, with fruit flavors being the most popular (63.4 percent) and about one in 14 (7.2 percent) reporting use of products with alcoholic drink flavors.

    “FDA is committed to taking action across the supply chain, including among retailers, to remove unauthorized tobacco products from the marketplace,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, in a statement. “This includes continued monitoring of the online marketplace to identify and combat against emerging products of concern.”

  • CTP Releases Strategic Plan

    CTP Releases Strategic Plan

    Image: Tada Images

    On Dec. 18, Brian King, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products, published a statement about the release of the center’s comprehensive strategic plan. The new strategic plan outlines CTP’s programmatic and workforce initiatives for the next five years.

    The CTP’s strategic plan defines five goals, 10 outcomes and several corresponding objectives. As outlined in the goals and outcomes in the plan, the center is collectively committed to issuing impactful regulations, using robust science to inform application reviews, pursuing timely and impactful compliance and enforcement strategies, and educating the public about the risks of tobacco products.

    King said the CTP will also continue to invest in its staff by advancing operational enhancements and supporting the further development of its workforce.

    In conjunction with the strategic plan, the CTP also published the center’s policy agenda of rules and guidance documents that are in development or planned for development. According to the agency, this policy agenda will create a more efficient approach to meeting the CTP’s strategic plan. The agenda will be updated annually.

  • FDA Asked to Clarify PMTA Process

    FDA Asked to Clarify PMTA Process

    Photo: Me studio

    U.S. senators Ted Budd, Rand Paul and Joe Manchin, sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf requesting he explain and clarify the FDA’s approach to nicotine product regulation and urging him to reform the tobacco product application process, according to Vaping360.

    “Since 2009, more than 26 million premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) have been submitted for new tobacco products in the U.S.,” the senators wrote.

    “Of those 26 million applications, the CTP [Center for Tobacco Products] has authorized fewer than 50. Remarkably, it has also authorized a total of only 16 modified-risk tobacco products (MRTPs) for only four unique products and their accessories.

    “This miniscule authorization rate is not in keeping with the CTP policy acknowledging that tobacco products fall on a continuum of risk. The availability of scientifically substantiated, authorized PMTAs or MRTPs could potentially improve health outcomes for smokers currently using riskier products.”

    The Tobacco Control Act requires that the CTP review and decide on PMTAs and MRTPs within 180 days, however, the FDA has not delivered on this timeline.

    The senators cited the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s report on the CTP and posed a series of questions to Califf.

    The senators are asking Califf to respond to their questions within 30 days.

  • Warning Letters for Unauthorized Products

    Warning Letters for Unauthorized Products

    Photo: Ljupco Smokovski

    On Dec. 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) issued warning letters to 11 online retailers selling unauthorized e-cigarette products marketed under the brand names Lost Mary, Funky Republic/Funky Lands, Elf Bar/EB Design, Kangvape, Cali and Breeze. Warning letter recipients are given 15 working days to respond with the steps they’ll take to correct the violations discussed in the warning letter and to prevent future violations. Failure to promptly correct the violations can result in FDA enforcement actions such as an injunction, seizure and/or civil money penalties.

    “It is illegal to sell, import, distribute or offer for sale or distribution to U.S. consumers any e-cigarette that has not been authorized by FDA,” said CTP Director Brian King in a statement. “The products identified in these warning letters are being marketed without the required authorization. We can issue, and have issued, warning letters for products for which an application has been submitted and is pending review. For unauthorized tobacco products, the pendency of an application does not create any sort of a safe harbor to sell that product.”

    As of December 2023, the FDA has issued more than 400 warning letters to retailers for the sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes and filed civil money penalty complaints against more than 65 retailers and manufacturers for the manufacture or sale of unauthorized products.

    To date, the FDA has authorized 23 e-cigarette devices and tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products.