Last February, the Texas federal judge hearing the tobacco companies’ lawsuit against the graphic warning labels Congress ordered the FDA to put on cigarettes in 2009 delayed the implementation date until April 2023, after several such delays, first in May 2020. By the way, the judge didn’t actually rule against the FDA, he just put off making a decision.
Not making a decision has effectively granted tobacco’s request for a preliminary injunction against the warning labels without actually having to demonstrate that the requirements to issue a preliminary injunction have been met.
But, by not actually granting the injunction, the Department of Justice (on FDA’s behalf) can’t appeal.
On May 10, the judge extended the date again, to July 8, 2023 (FDA summary).
This is an amazing abuse of judicial discretion.
The DOJ should file a writ of mandamus with the Court of Appeals to force action. At this point, the government has nothing to loose and the public has a lot to gain.
Stanton Glantz blog 