R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Several tobacco manufacturers, distributors, and retailers challenged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) March 2020 graphic health warning rule on First Amendment grounds. Under the challenged rule, cigarette packaging and advertisements would be required to display graphic health warnings covering 50% and 20%, respectively. While this challenge was pending, the effective date of the rule was postponed several times.

In this ruling, the judge granted partial summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, holding that the rule is invalid under the First Amendment.

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R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company et al. v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration et al., No. 6:2020cv00176 - Document 106 (E.D. Tex. 2022).

  • United States
  • Dec 7, 2022
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

Parties

Plaintiff

  • R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
  • ITG Brands LLC
  • Liggett Group LLC
  • Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc.
  • Necom, Inc.
  • Rangila Enterprises Inc.
  • Rangila LLC
  • Sahil Ismail, Inc.
  • Is Like You Inc.

Defendant

  • U.S. Food and Drug Administration
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Robert Califf
  • Xavier Becerra

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

None