NEW YORK, September 3, 2024 – Global Action to End Smoking, an authority in the fight to end the smoking epidemic, today filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Food and Drug Administration v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC. Global Action respectfully submitted this brief in the interest of public health in support of neither party to provide critical objective scientific information to the Court. It seeks to make clear that the FDA must properly implement the requirements of the Family Smoking and Tobacco Prevention Act in its regulation of e-cigarettes to ensure adult smokers have access to scientifically proven tools that can lower their risk and cigarette dependence.
“The FDA's current all-or-nothing regulatory approach to e-cigarettes and other reduced-risk products is impeding desperately needed progress in accelerating the end of the smoking epidemic, which causes the premature deaths of one out of two long-term users and nearly one of every five deaths each year in the United States.
“There is now significant scientific evidence that e-cigarettes are often more effective than nicotine replacement medicines at enabling adult smokers to stop lethal combustible tobacco use and reduce their risk. We want to ensure our nation’s high court understands the highly restrictive approach taken by the FDA to new reduced-harm products violates the public health intent of Congress. We must do everything we can to protect youth from exposure to nicotine, while making reduced-risk options available to adult smokers. The FDA is failing millions of adults who continue to suffer from cigarette addiction and cannot or will not stop smoking by other means.”
Douglas is an attorney who has spent his 36-year career dedicated to eradicating death and disease related to smoking by promoting science-based policies and education and seeking accountability for tobacco industry misconduct in courts of law. In addition to serving as counsel in several landmark lawsuits against the cigarette industry, he has served as an advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General and U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health and as the national vice president for tobacco control for the American Cancer Society. Over the course of his career, he has also led numerous efforts to protect children against predatory industry practices.
Click here to review Global Action’s amicus brief, which was submitted in furtherance of Global Action’s charitable mission and part of its Cessation Education initiative, aimed at improving understanding of nicotine and the relative risk of different tobacco and nicotine products among members of the public, health professionals, and other stakeholders.
Global Action, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to ending combustible tobacco use, is represented by Carter G. Phillips, one of the most experienced Supreme Court and appellate lawyers in the country, and his team at the firm Sidley Austin LLP.
“We are proud to present the Court with Global Action’s expert analysis on these critical life-and-death questions. It is clear that the FDA should exercise its regulatory authority to account for the serious real-world consequences for millions of smokers who depend on the agency for accurate guidance and support.”
About Global Action to End Smoking
Global Action to End Smoking is an independent, U.S. nonprofit 501(c)(3) grantmaking organization whose mission is to accelerate science-based efforts worldwide to end the smoking epidemic. It is dedicated to ending combustible tobacco use, which remains the leading preventable cause of death globally. Historically, Global Action received funding through PMI Global Services. As of Sept. 2023, Global Action and PMI terminated their original pledge agreement, and Global Action formally adopted a policy not to seek or accept funding from companies that produce tobacco or non-medicinal nicotine products. Global Action has earned the 2024 Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, a leading global source of information about nonprofit organizations.