Jump to full article: Lawyers USA , 2009-06-15
Author: Kimberly Atkins Staff writer
Intro: A bill that will give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products could make it harder for plaintiffs to obtain punitive and equitable remedies in tobacco cases.
The measure is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama soon.
“I’m sure companies will try to wrap themselves with the cloak … of being regulated by the FDA, and given that fact, punitive damages might be minimized,” said Edward Sweda, senior attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston.
The law, which was passed by Congress last week, will allow the FDA to regulate - but not ban - cigarettes. . . .
“The impact of the bill will be relatively subtle and quite modest on a whole,” Sweda said.
Adam Trop, an attorney at the Hollywood, Fla.-based firm Paige, Trop & Ameen, said the bill’s express non-preemptive language, coupled with a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding plaintiffs’ right to file state law claims over tobacco companies’ deceptive marketing of “light” or “low tar” cigarettes, protect civil claims.
“I don’t have any concerns that regulation of the tobacco industry will have a negative impact on consumers’ right to file a lawsuit for their injuries or for the loss of a loved one,” Trop said.
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