Public health officials, including those advocating for Black lives, have lost patience with the Biden administration over its reluctance to ban menthol cigarettes, and they are reigniting a legal battle with the White House over it.
“It was prime time to refile this lawsuit,” said Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, managing attorney at Action on Smoking & Health. “Part of the reason we dropped our first one is because we thought [the administration] was moving forward. But they exceeded several deadlines, and the timeline felt too excessive.”
ASH is one of three co-plaintiffs who filed a second lawsuit in April against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the northern district of California, arguing that the administration is violating its own guidelines by delaying a ban. They were joined by the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and the National Medical Association. The lawsuit came days after the Biden administration missed its third self-imposed deadline to finalize the rule banning tobacco products with a menthol flavor.