A federal judge peppered a government lawyer with questions Wednesday expressing doubts about whether the Food and Drug Administration can force tobacco companies to post graphic images on their cigarette packages showing the health effects of smoking.
In a two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon closely questioned Justice Department lawyer Mark Stern on whether the nine graphic images proposed by the FDA convey just the facts about the health risks of smoking or go beyond that into advocacy — a critical distinction in a case over free speech.
The cigarette companies sued in an effort to block the FDA from enforcing the requirement, which would go in effect a year from now.
The images include a cloud of cigarette smoke within inches of a baby's face; a pair of healthy lungs next to the diseased lungs of a smoker and a warning that smoking causes fatal lung disease; a smoker's stained teeth and a lip diseased by cigarettes; and a dead smoker on an autopsy table with surgical stitches in his chest and the words "Smoking can kill you."
If the judge were to conclude the images amount to advocacy, that would make it more likely that the tobacco companies would be able to block the government's latest move in regulating the industry.
Leon said he hopes to issue a ruling by the end of October.
No comments:
Post a Comment