On June 30, 2026, FDA issued modified risk granted orders to Swedish Match USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Philip Morris International Inc., for 20 ZYN nicotine pouch products, authorizing the company to market those products with the claim: “Using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart
Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP)
Oral Argument Held in Deeming Rule Appeal by Nicopure Labs and Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition

On September 11, 2018, Nicopure Labs, LLC and the Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition (the “Appellants”) appeared for oral argument before a three-judge panel in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to appeal a decision issued last year by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which ruled in favor of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) in the first lawsuit challenging various provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (“TCA” or “Act”) and the FDA’s Deeming Rule as they are being applied to the vapor industry. During oral argument, the Appellants argued that the Modified Risk Tobacco Product (“MRTP”) preclearance requirement imposed by Section 911 of the TCA violates the First Amendment as applied to e-cigarettes and other vapor products. In addition, the Appellants argued that application of the Act’s free sample ban to vapor products violates the First Amendment, and that FDA failed to tailor the premarket tobacco application (“PMTA”) requirements to ensure the continued availability of vapor products. Below, we provide a brief overview of the issues discussed at the oral argument. The recording of the hearing is available here. For background on the appeal, see our previous blog posts, including copies of the legal briefs, available here and here. …
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FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb’s Recent Remarks on Vapor Products and the Continuum of Risk; Update on Deeming Rule Appeal
On June 18, 2018, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb delivered remarks on “FDA’s Nicotine and Tobacco Regulation and the Key Role of Regulatory Science” at the Tobacco Regulatory Science Program Meeting.[1] While addressing the importance of regulatory science to inform FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) regulatory efforts, Commissioner…