The Regulatory Capture of FDA’s Tobacco Policy – And How to Reverse It

Jeffrey Weiss, The Regulatory Capture of FDA’s Tobacco Policy – And How to Reverse It, 79 Food Drug and L. J. (forthcoming):

FDA's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has struggled to find a stable footing in its regulation of e-cigarettes/ENDS. In recognition of this fact, Commissioner Robert Califf asked the independent Reagan-Udall Foundation to conduct a review of CTP operations. Reagan-Udall's first recommendation was development by FDA of a five-year strategic plan. Critical to a sound plan will be for FDA to first understand how its tobacco policy has been captured by tobacco control advocacy groups (TCAG). It should then craft a going-forward strategy that is firmly rooted in the 2009 Tobacco Control Act (TCA) and the historic consensus on FDA-regulated harm reduction on which it was founded.