Federal judge gives FDA tight deadline for tobacco warning rule
The agency "unreasonably delayed" action
The FDA has until March 15 to issue a final rule mandating that cigarette makers place graphic health warnings on cigarette packs and in advertising, a federal judge ruled last week.
The order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts was in response to a lawsuit filed in October 2016 by eight public health and medical groups and several individual pediatricians. In a September 2018 ruling, Judge Talwani agreed with the health groups that the FDA has both “unlawfully withheld” and “unreasonably delayed” agency action to require the graphic warnings.