--snip--
PR Log (Press Release) Apr 01, 2010 The importation of e-cigarettes will be banned indefinitely as the result of a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals. The court agreed to permit their continued import ban while it considered an appeal from a lower court ruling which had prohibited the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] from stopping the imports of this new product, reports public interest law professor John Banzhaf of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), who participated in the legal proceeding.
The court went out of its way in its brief ruling to suggest that the FDA was correct in declaring the product illegal, noting that "appellants [FDA] have satisfied the stringent standards required for a stay pending appeal." These standards require that the party seeking the stay show that it has made a "strong showing that it is likely to prevail on the merits of its appeal" -- in other words, that it is likely correct on the law, and will be the victor when a final decision is announced.
The FDA had warned that e-cig use poses "acute health risks," that "the dangers posed by their toxic chemicals . . . cannot seriously be questioned," and that they have caused a wide variety of potentially serious symptoms "including racing pulse, dizziness, slurred speech, mouth ulcers, heartburn, coughing, ........, and sore
throat."
--unsnip--
