Court: Cigarette Companies Don't Have to Show Graphic Warning Images

Ban upheld

A U.S. appeals court has ruled that cigarette companies do not need to comply with governmental requirements and show graphic warning images on their packages, such as a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his throat. The court said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not provided enough evidence that the proposed warning labels would accomplish the stated objective of lowering the smoking rates and found the label requirement violated corporate speech requirements. "This case raises novel questions about the scope of the government's authority to force the manufacturer of a product to go beyond making purely factual and accurate commercial disclosures and undermine its own economic interest -- in this case, by making 'every single pack of cigarettes in the country mini billboard' for the government's anti-smoking message," wrote Judge Janice Rogers Brown. The FDA has argued the images of rotting teeth and diseased lungs are accurate and necessary to warn consumers -- especially teenagers -- about the risks of smoking. (MSNBC)

[SUBSCRIBE TO LOOP 21 RSS FEED]