WASHINGTON –
The U.S. Supreme Court examined on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s refusal to let two e-cigarette companies sell flavored vape products that regulators consider a health risk to youths, while the lawyer for the businesses suggested President-elect Donald Trump could steer a different course.
The justices heard arguments in an appeal filed by the FDA under outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration of a lower court’s decision that the agency had failed to follow proper legal procedures under federal law when it rejected the applications to sell these nicotine-containing products.
This is the latest case in which the justices are scrutinizing actions by a U.S. regulatory agency, with the Republican Trump due to take office on Jan. 20 with a promise of broad deregulation.
Eric Heyer, the lawyer for e-cigarette liquid makers Triton Distribution and Vapetasia, suggested that Trump’s return could prompt a shift in the U.S. government’s …