Judge Pauses Health Groups’ Challenge to FDA’s Menthol Cig Rule

A lawsuit filed by anti-tobacco groups seeking to challenge the FDA’s delay to ban menthol cigarettes was paused by a federal judge in response to moves made by the Trump administration.

Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. for the US District Court for the Northern District of California issued a stay Wednesday in a case between the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and the Food and Drug Administration over whether the agency lawfully delayed a Biden-era final rule that would ban menthol cigarettes from store shelves.

Both parties in a joint submission proposed the stay on Feb. 18 in light ...