E-liquid Company Files Lawsuit Against FDA
LOST ART LIQUIDS, LLC (“Lost Art Liquids”), producers of many of the most popular selling premium e-liquids sold in the United States and abroad, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) in the Central District of California today. Lost Art Liquids’ suit challenges FDA’s purported authority to deem and regulate e-liquids and other vapor products as “tobacco products” under the Tobacco Control Act and asserts claims against FDA for violations of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the 1st and 5th Amendments, and the Administrative Procedures Act.
“Lost Art Liquids is and has always been committed to producing the highest quality, safest, and most innovative premium e-liquid products and in serving as a voice for the vapor community. FDA, with its deeming regulation, has ignored our voice and the voices of millions of others, leaving us no choice but to seek judicial relief,” said Brian Worthy, CEO of Lost Art Liquids. “We are disappointed that the FDA continues to confuse and conflate vapor products with tobacco and chooses to ignore years of well-established research that shows the relative safety of the products compared to combustible cigarettes and the public health benefit they may offer to millions of Americans who use them as an alternative to tobacco.”
Lost Art Liquids’ Complaint alleges that FDA’s regulation of vapor products is illegal in that it exceeds the very limited and specific scope of authority Congress granted FDA to regulate “tobacco products” under the Tobacco Control Act in 2009.
“Vapor products are technology products, not tobacco products,” said Ryan Thomas, Lost Art Liquids’ Co-Founder and COO. “The legislative history and factual findings that serve as the predicate to the Tobacco Control Act make clear that Congress never intended to give FDA authority to regulate vapor products when it enacted the Tobacco Control Act in 2009. It was created to regulate products like cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, not vapor,” he continued.
“FDA has introduced one of the most burdensome, misguided and harmful regulations in its history without adequately sound science, or adhering to required, lawful procedures. These regulations will harm Lost Art Liquids’ business and customers by eliminating vapor products from the market, forcing consumers to resort to more harmful products like cigarettes and cigars,” added Thomas.