Graphic Warnings Rule for Cigarettes Constitutional, U.S. Argues

A requirement that cigarette packs and advertisements display large, graphic warnings is consistent with the First Amendment, the U.S. government told the federal court in Texas that’s hearing a challenge from R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies.

And the Food and Drug Administration complied with the law governing agency actions when developing the rule, the government said in a brief seeking summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Further, the suit should be dismissed, or at least transferred, because only “the thinnest of reeds"—a Texas retailer—connects the case to the that district, the government ...