The FDA must stop companies from evading upcoming new tobacco rules

Early next year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to issue a final rule prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes, as well as a separate rule prohibiting the sale of flavored cigars. In October, the FDA sent these two rules, which collectively could prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths, to the White House for final review. The recent announcement that these rules will not be finalized until 2024 is disappointing, particularly because these regulations are already long overdue. Indeed, the need for them was obvious back in 2009, when Congress passed the Tobacco Control Act (TCA), granting the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products.