Fact Check Team: FDA faces legal battle over flavored vaping rules

WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case brought by the e-cigarette industry challenging the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) rules against flavored vaping products. The case centers on the FDA's concern that dessert-flavored vaping products are popular with school-aged children.

The e-cigarette industry argues that flavored nicotine products help Americans transition away from traditional cigarettes. A study shared by the National Library of Medicine supports this claim, but only 11.1% of users ended up quitting smoking.

The industry contends that the FDA violated federal law by changing the rules for how its products are evaluated. According to NPR, experts say the FDA initially asked companies what they would do to prevent marketing their products to children but later decided that no restrictions on marketing would be sufficient.

Triton Distribution and Vapetasia, two companies involved in the case, applied to the FDA for permission to market flavored liquids for use in e-cigarettes. According to SCOTUSblog, Their products include flavors such as "Rainbow Road," "Crème Brulee," and "Jimmy the Juice Man Peachy Strawberry." However, the FDA rejected their applications, stating that the use of flavored liquids increases the likelihood of young people using tobacco. The FDA also said it did not find evidence that these flavors would benefit adults who already smoke.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2024, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students in the U.S. More than 1.63 million students are currently vaping, with almost 8% of high schoolers and more than 3.5% of middle schoolers using e-cigarettes.

However, the numbers have been steadily declining. The CDC's National Youth Tobacco Survey found a significant drop in the number of U.S. middle and high school students who reported current e-cigarette use, decreasing from 2.13 million (7.7%) youth in 2023 to 1.63 million (5.9%) youth in 2024. Despite this decrease, the reasons behind the decline remain unclear.

According to Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, "Youth use of tobacco products in any form—including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches—is unsafe," ... "It's essential that we remain vigilant and committed to public health efforts to ensure all youth can live healthy, tobacco-free lives."