FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATS & CHEST File Joint Amicus Brief Supporting Legal Challenge to FDA E-Cigarette Policy
NEW YORK, NY, Oct. 16, 2026 – The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) filed a joint amicus brief, joined by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) and the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy (AAOA), in support of a lawsuit filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and other public health organizations challenging the FDA’s recent guidance policy that allows unauthorized e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches to be distributed, marketed, and sold in the U.S. market.
The Tobacco Control Act of 2009 requires all new tobacco products to undergo an FDA premarket review and authorization before they can be legally sold in the U.S. For years, the FDA has failed to remove unauthorized products from the market. The FDA recently issued a new guidance policy that will allow thousands of unregulated flavored e-cigarette and nicotine pouch products – the products most popular with youth – to remain in the market indefinitely, without undergoing the legally required FDA review and authorization. If allowed to stand, this policy will leave our nation’s youth vulnerable to addiction and disease.
“In 2009, Congress gave the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. For nearly two decades the agency has failed to use that authority to effectively regulate tobacco products, especially e-cigarettes. Our children have paid the price for the FDA’s inaction,” said Christy Sadreameli, MD, ATSF, member of the ATS Tobacco Action Committee.
“The FDA’s decision to further delay the regulation of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products is unacceptable. I hope that through legal action we can compel the agency to finally do its job and protect our kids by removing these unauthorized and dangerous e-cigarette products from the U.S. market,” she said.
"We cannot afford to repeat policy mistakes that put a generation of young people at risk of nicotine addiction,” said CHEST President Neil S. Freedman, MD. “CHEST members treat the lung disease, respiratory injuries, and nicotine dependence these products leave behind. The FDA’s responsibility is to protect public health. The FDA's new guidance should be reversed, and the practice of requiring rigorous evidence-based scientific review before products reach the market should remain paramount."