Commissioner Firmly Opposes FDA Regulatory Oversight of Tobacco Products

Although not present at last week’s Congressional hearing on legislation to authorize his agency to regulate tobacco products, FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach sent a statement to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health in which he said: "Associating the agency with the approval of these inherently dangerous products would undermine the agency’s mission."

Dr. von Eschenbach said that, while his agency should not be required to regulate tobacco, it is open to some expanded role in the fight against smoking, reported The Courier-Journal. The FDA Commissioner’s opposition to the bill is, in part, because the bill would not give the FDA the adequate money or timeframe to establish a new regulatory structure for tobacco.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has said that the FDA is best suited to regulate tobacco because it has the scientific expertise. "It’s really remarkable that a cigarette is subject to less regulation than a lollipop," Waxman said. "We have a moral obligation to do better."

During the October 3 hearing, several Republican members of the Subcommittee on Health voiced their objections to the bill. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), a physician and former smoker, called the proposed regulation of tobacco a waste of taxpayer dollars. Smoking is inherently harmful and should be fought in other ways, Burgess said.

"You can’t just keep piling more and more work on the FDA without giving the agency additional resources," Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) said.

Dr. Alan Blum, Director of the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, said that the FDA is not the place to regulate tobacco. "By having to promulgate health and manufacturing standards for cigarettes. . . the FDA will be communicating the perception that cigarettes are now safer to smoke," Blum told fellow lawmakers.

Several witnesses testified that the tobacco companies must be stopped from advertising and glamorizing cigarettes in their attempt to encourage America’s young people to take up smoking. "Their corporate survival depends on addicting our young people," said Dr. Fred Jacobs, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services.

William Corr, of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free kids, warned that tobacco companies are constantly improving ways to make their products appeal to youths. "That’s why it’s imperative that the FDA have the authority on an ongoing basis to evaluate and regulate advertising to protect public health," Corr said.