NEW YORK – Four large cigarette-makers have sued the US Food and Drug Administration, alleging new graphic labels designed to warn consumers about the risks of smoking and induce them to quit violate the constitution.
The lawsuit by Reynolds American’s RJ Reynolds unit, Lorillard, Liggett Group and Commonwealth Brands, owned by Britain’s Imperial Tobacco Group, accuses the FDA of forcing cigarette-makers to “engage in anti-smoking advocacy” on the government’s behalf.
They said this violated their free speech rights under the US constitution’s first amendment.
“The notion that the government can require those who manufacture a lawful product to emblazon half of its package with pictures and words admittedly drafted to persuade the public not to purchase that product cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny,” said Floyd Abrams, a prominent first amendment specialist representing the cigarette-makers, in a statement.
FDA representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Reynolds, Lorillard, Commonwealth and Liggett are the largest US cigarette companies other than Altria Group which makes Marlboro cigarettes and is not part of the case.
A smaller cigarette maker, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco, is also a plaintiff against the FDA.
The new labelling is part of a law that puts the tobacco industry under the FDA’s purview.
Dead bodies, diseased lungs and rotting teeth are among the images expected to appear on cigarette packages and tobacco advertisements no later than September 22nd, 2012, representing the first change in US cigarette warnings in 25 years.
In unveiling these labels in June, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the department of health and human services, said the warnings would ensure that “every person who picks up a pack of cigarettes is going to know exactly what risks they are taking”.