New Article on Graphic Warning Labels is Wrong on the Law: Why Strict Scrutiny is the Proper Standard for Proposed FDA Warnings

In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued regulations that required graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. The FDA chose nine graphic images, such as a picture of a man with a chest scar from cardiac surgery, along with a telephone number for smokers to call for help with smoking cessation (1-800-QUIT-NOW). The tobacco companies subsequently challenged the rule, arguing that it violated their First Amendment rights by compelling them to commercial speech which is against their economic interests (i.e., speech which strongly encourages consumers to stop using the product). The D.C. district court overturned the regulations on this basis, a decision that was affirmed by the appellate court.One of the issues in the case was whether the required warning labels represent merely factual and uncontroversial information or whether they are intended to elicit an emotional response that goes beyond merely the provision of factual information. In an apparent attempt to defend the regulations, newresearch published in the journalTobacco Control reports the results of a study showing that graphic images can be informative and textual messages can evoke emotion, thus (supposedly) invalidating the court ' s reasoning in rejecting the rule.(See: Popova L, et al. Factual text and emotional pictures: overcoming a false dichotomy of cigarette warning labels.Tobacco Control 2017; http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2016-053563.)The article concludes: " Our findings contr...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs