Split Decision in Tobacco Case

By Nora FitzGerald





WASHINGTON, D.C.–Both the advertising industry and the Food and Drug Administration came away victors from the Greensboro, N.C., tobacco case Friday in which a federal judge said that the FDA may regulate tobacco but may not restrict advertising of the product.





The case involves two lawsuits: one brought by the tobacco manufacturers and the other by the advertising industry against the FDA. Judge William Osteen decided that while the FDA has authority over tobacco, it has no jurisdiction over advertising.





Hal Shoup, executive vice president of the American Association of Advertising





Agencies, said, ‘We were granted exactly what we were seeking: summary judgment that prevents the FDA from implementing its proposed restrictions on the truthful advertising and promotion of a legal product.’