The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge from cigarette companies on Monday, Nov. 25, against a federal requirement that cigarette packages include graphic labels that warn of the health risks associated with smoking.
Tobacco company R.J. Reynolds and other companies appealed a lower court’s decision to uphold the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) mandate, which found the federal rule consistent with the First Amendment. The court agreed with the FDA that the warnings were “factually accurate.”
R.J. Reynolds unsuccessfully argued the FDA’s rule amounted to “compelled speech” and that violated the company’s free speech rights. The company claimed the proposed warnings “overstate” the health risks associated with smoking.
The proposed labels from the FDA consisted of images of tumors, blackened lungs and surgery scars, with messages about the health issues smoking can potentially cause. The FDA proposed the 13 warning labels in 2019 under the Trump administration.
The FDA accused cigarette companies of “knowingly and actively conspiring to deceive the public about the health risks and addictiveness of smoking.”
Around 120 countries already have large graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. The United States has not updated its labeling on cigarette packages since 1984.
