CAPITOL CONCERNS: FDA to Regulate Tobacco...Again?
The prospect that FDA will acquire authority to regulate tobacco products is real. Two bills have already been introduced in the Senate --one by Senator Frist (R.-Tenn.) and the other by Senator Harkin (D. Iowa). Furthermore, the largest tobacco company, Phillip Morris, is openly supporting FDA authority to regulate its cigarettes. What gives and what's likely to happen?
The "what gives" question is relatively simple to answer. The effort of FDA to regulate tobacco, undertaken by former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, was ultimately derailed by a 5-4 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the record established by FDA during several years of its investigation and development of a regulatory regime have altered the legislative and regulatory landscape for tobacco.