Resources for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

FDA Deserves Oversight of Big Tobacco

www.newsadvance.com

If the federal Food and Drug Administration can regulate everything from toothpaste to the latest drugs designed to combat cancer, why shouldn’t it be allowed to monitor tobacco products?
It’s a question that has bounced around the halls of Congress for more than a decade. A vote last week by a House committee would give the FDA broad new authority over tobacco products — authority it has never had before.
And it’s about time. Those who have any qualms about giving the FDA new controls over tobacco have only to consider the grim public health public health toll of smoking, which is responsible for 400,000 deaths and $100 billion in health care costs annually.
The bill passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a 38-12 vote would authorize the FDA to police cigarette labeling, restrict sales to minors, prohibit flavored cigarettes and recall tobacco products seen as unreasonably harmful. A Senate committee has also approved similar legislation.
Under the bill, the FDA would also have to approve all new cigarettes and other tobacco products and set standards for so-called reduced risk products

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