Supreme Court won't hear case on graphic cigarette package warnings
The Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to a federal requirement that cigarette packages include graphic warnings showing the impacts of smoking.
The court declined to hear the case, the case order from Monday said.
Tobacco company R.J. Reynolds brought the case to the Supreme Court after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) requirement for the packaging was consistent with the First Amendment.
R.J. Reynolds argued that the images required by the FDA constituted “compelled speech” that violated the First Amendment. The proposed labels from the FDA contained images of tumors, dark lungs, surgery scars and more alongside messages detailing what health issues smoking can cause.
R.J. Reynolds also argued some of the proposed labels could be misleading and would “overstate” the severity of the risks of smoking.
The FDA argued that the pictures reflected the undisputed risks of smoking, depicting a “factually accurate, common visual representation of the health condition and shows the disease state as it is typically experienced.”
Cigarettes are responsible for more than 480,000 deaths annually, according to the presented statement, leading the FDA to encourage the government to end the history of cigarette companies “knowingly and actively conspir[ing] to deceive the public about the health risks and addictiveness of smoking.”
Nearly 120 other countries use large, graphic warnings on cigarette packages, which studies suggest may be more effective at relaying smoking risks.
The United States has not updated labels since 1984, but the Food and Drug Administration proposed 13 new warnings for labels in 2019.
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