The number of legal challenges is mounting against the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new rules to regulate electronic cigarettes and cigars, with at least five suits filed, a Washington DC newspaper reported.
Among companies filing complaints with courts in Washington is Altria Group, which owns both cigar and e-cigarette companies, and is challenging the FDA curb on using words like ‘light’ and ‘mild,’ said The Hill. Altria’s John Middleton subsidiary makes Black & Mild brand cigars. The Right to be Smoke-Free and nine other groups filed a complaint in June that The Hill said would be heard with an earlier suit filed by Nicopure Labs. A West Virginia legislator and e-cigarette user, Larry Faircloth, filed a suit in federal court for the state, according to The Hill.