Key points：
- The Appeals Court of Ohio in the United States has rejected the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General against e-cigarette retailers.
- The court ruled that the state consumer protection law cannot substitute for FDA pre-market approval regulation.
- The court cited relevant rulings from the US Supreme Court and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
- The judgment further deepens the dispute over the jurisdictional boundaries between the state and federal government in regulating e-cigarettes.
According to the National Law Review, the Ohio Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by State Attorney General Dave Yost against e-cigarette retailer Central Tobacco & Stuff Inc. The prosecutor accused the company of selling e-cigarette products without FDA authorization and violating the state's Consumer Sales Practices Act by failing to inform consumers that the products lacked authorization.
The court held that the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and its 2009 amendment, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, grant the FDA exclusive regulatory authority over tobacco products (including e-cigarettes). According to the "federal supremacy principle," states may not enact local consumer protection laws that add to or replace federal approval requirements.
Most opinions cite the United States Supreme Court rulings in Buckman Co. v. Plaintiffs' Legal Committee and the Sixth Circuit Court case Loreto v. Procter & Gamble Co., determining that the lawsuit "lacks legal foundation without FDCA provisions" and is therefore implicitly precluded by federal law.
Judge King, who holds a different opinion, believes that state governments can still file lawsuits based on "deceptive sales practices" and that federal law does not completely strip states of their authority to regulate sales practices.
This case demonstrates that, when trying to regulate e-cigarettes using local consumer protection laws, states in the United States still face the overriding primacy of federal law.
Image source: PEXEL
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