FDA boss questions move for agency to regulate tobacco industry

Andrew von Eschenbach, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, has questioned efforts by Congress to have the agency regulate the tobacco industry.

The FDA commissioner has expressed his concerns about the bill which is being considered in both the House and Senate.

The bill proposes that the FDA monitor cigarette labeling, restrict their sales, prohibit flavored cigarettes and recall tobacco products seen as unreasonably harmful.

The legislation would mean the FDA would also have to approve all new cigarettes and other tobacco products, and set standards for so-called reduced-risk products but the agency would not have the power to ban cigarettes or require nicotine levels of zero under the bill.

The commissioner is concerned that the bill could undermine the public health role of FDA, because it would link the agency to tobacco products, which are harmful.

Dr. von Eschenbach says this could confuse the public and also have a 'perverse incentive effect'.

He also says the bill will be difficult to implement, because the concepts from drug regulation that it would apply to tobacco products "don't fit well"; he also raised doubts on whether the FDA has the resources to enforce cigarette rules.

The major tobacco companies are understandably watching the debate closely as they would all be affected should the bill be passed.

How the commissioner's testimony will affect the outcome of the tobacco-regulation bill is unclear as many Democrats who support the bill may argue that his views are those of the Bush administration, and not necessarily the agency as a whole.

David Kessler, a previous commissioner had pushed for the FDA to have authority over the sale of tobacco products but the initiative was ultimately rejected by the Supreme Court.

Smoking remains the number one preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths and $96 billion in health care costs each year alone.