U.S. Government Continues to Vigorously Defend New Graphic Health Warnings

Dear Colleagues,

As many of you by now have heard, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, once again, ruled for tobacco companies and issued a permanent injunction blocking implementation of FDA’s new graphic health warnings.

Although this ruling was expected, the Judge’s conclusions frustrate many in the tobacco control community. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids has issued a statement saying, "It is incomprehensible that Judge Leon would conclude that the warnings are "neither factual nor accurate" when they unequivocally tell the truth about cigarette smoking — that it is addictive, harms children, causes fatal lung disease, cancer, strokes and heart disease, and can kill you. What isn't factual or accurate about these warnings? Not even the tobacco industry disputes these facts.”
(see http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press_releases/post/2012_02_29_ruling)

NAQC is pleased that the U.S. government continues to vigorously defend its position in the lawsuit and we look forward to having new graphic health warnings implemented at some future date. We are disappointed, however, that Judge Leon’s decisions will delay implementation of the new warning labels. Implementation of this regulation would save the lives of millions of our fellow citizens. It is hard to imagine or even identify a current regulation that could have more of an impact on the health and well-being of our country. For those of us who work on cessation, the implications of the Judge’s decision are grave—fewer smokers will be motivated to quit and, as a result, more will die prematurely.

To read more about yesterday’s decision, see the links below:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-blocks-graphic-images-cigarette-packages-15821958
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/29/graphic-cigarette-warning-blocked-judge_n_1311422.html
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/307075/20120301/report-u-s-court-rules-against-graphic.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/01/us-usa-tobacco-labels-idUSTRE81S23820120301

Best regards,

Linda A. Bailey, JD, MHS
President and CEO
North American Quitline Consortium