Researchers look to counter industry opposition to FDA proposal in The New England Journal of Medicine
The Food and Drug Administration recently proposed substantially limiting the level of nicotine permitted in cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products, a policy change expected to face strong opposition from the tobacco industry. A new paper in The New England Journal of Medicine co-authored by Micah Berman, Stephen F. Loebs Professor in Health Services Management and Policy, examines the anticipated legal and political opposition ahead.
Berman and his co-authors Patricia Zettler, a professor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and Theodore Wagener, director of the Center for Tobacco Research and co-leader of the Cancer Control Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, urge public health researchers to submit comments and provide evidence that supports the rule that would make tobacco products less addictive and easier to quit.
“The tobacco industry wields significant political influence and will probably mount strong opposition to the proposed rule at every step of the rulemaking process and before every relevant decisionmaker,” the authors write.
The potential benefits of limiting nicotine levels in cigarettes and other tobacco products are “difficult to overstate” and would save millions of lives during this century, according to their paper.
Berman has a joint appointment at Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law.
