In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a series of US Food and Drug Administration decisions denying market authorization for flavored vaping products. However, the justices sent the case, FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments LLC (doing business as Triton Distribution), back to an appeals court for further review.
While the ruling is a partial win for FDA, uncertainty remains over whether President Donald Trump’s administration will take steps to expand access to flavored vaping products. During his campaign, Trump pledged to “save vaping.” The vaping companies in the suit also still have the option to reapply for FDA authorization.
Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the opinion for the court, wrote that while the vaping companies “express frustration about the lack of clear prior notice regarding the type of scientific evidence that was essential for approval of an application … we cannot agree with their argument that the FDA went back on any commitments made in the guidance it provided before ruling on respondents’ applications.
“We thus conclude that (the companies) failed to show that FDA changed its position with respect to the scientific evidence supporting premarket tobacco product applications.”
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