Last year, Nicopure Labs and The Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition (“R2B”) sued the FDA, arguing against portions of the tobacco Control Act (TCA) and the FDA’s Deeming Rule as they are being applied to vapor products. The court ruled in favor of the FDA, so the plaintiffs filed an appeal in the D.C. Court of Appeals.
On appeal, Nicopure and R2B argue that “the Modified Risk tobacco Product (MRTP) provision of the TCA, as well as the ban on free samples of vapor products, (1) violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and (2) FDA was obligated to consider a less burdensome Premarket tobacco Product Application (PMTA) process for vapor products while still protecting the public health.” A summary of these issues can be read here, and you can download the full brief here.
In support of that appeal, CASAA has filed an amicus brief with the court. An amicus brief is a legal document – filed by someone who is not a party to the action – that advises the court of relevant, additional information or arguments that they want the court to take into consideration.
In this case, CASAA is not really making legal arguments, but instead providing additional information from the consumer perspective, such as how consumers use vapor products, the importance of sampling, and why it is critically important that consumers be able to receive basic, truthful information from vapor companies about, among other things, the low-risk nature of vapor products (something that the TCA prohibits). The full CASAA amicus brief can be read here.
In addition to the amicus brief, CASAA disseminated information about the lawsuit on our web site, in our newsletter and on social media to raise awareness of the legal action. This alerted our 200,000+ members and nearly 83,000 followers on social media of the case.
On May 22nd, a fundraising page was launched by the plaintiffs, in coordination with a vaping media site, to help fund the appeal....Read more
