Altria Responds to Menthol Cigarette Report

Altria Client Services on behalf of Philip Morris USA Inc. has sent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a written report summarizing the science and evidence on the impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on the public health. The FDA asked the tobacco industry to provide a separate report on the topic to the Tobacco Products Science Advisory Committee (TPSAC), which recently released its findings that there is scientific evidence to back up the notion that removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit public health in the United States. Lorillard Inc. issued its own response to the findings.

The Philip Morris report found that its “review of the science- and evidence-based information demonstrates that regulatory actions or restrictions related to the use of menthol in cigarettes are neither necessary nor justified. Significant restrictions, like eliminating menthol in cigarettes, would not reduce the population harm caused by cigarette smoking, and would lead to severe and lasting unintended consequences detrimental to public health objectives and society.”

The lengthy report concludes that the FDA should use the provisions already in place “to undertake an overall approach to reducing the harm from cigarette smoking. Sound public policy warrants that FDA give these provisions an opportunity to achieve their intended purposes before proposing further or supplemental—and possibly countervailing—steps.”