The Japanese government failed to toughen a passive smoking ban in its new anticancer program, which was approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday, without support from the ruling party representing industries to be affected by the measure.
Two Jacksonville attorneys have been ordered to forfeit more than $9 million by a panel of federal judges who say Norwood Wilner and Charlie Farah filed at least 1,250 frivolous cases as part of litigation against tobacco companies.
After three years of tortuous debate, the European Parliament voted and passed the Tobacco Product Directive by 514 votes to 66. Certainly, the sacking by Manuel Barroso of Maltese Health Commissioner John Dalli for allegedly soliciting a bribe of €60 million from a Swedish snus manufacturer did nothing to speed matters up.
This week, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta denied a motion by a group of six anti-tobacco organizations to intervene in a lawsuit by cigar manufacturers against the FDA. The lawsuit challenges the legality of parts of the new regulation they face after the FDA asserted jurisdiction over (“deemed”) cigars and vapor products. It is based on the right to free speech, specifics of the Tobacco Control Act, and other constitutional and statutory arguments. If successful, it could have important implications for the vapor industry.