The Senate today voted 79-17 to approve a landmark bill tobacco that President Barack Obama said he sign once it is reconciled with a house of representatives measure. The bill, for the first time, empower the FDA to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products, the creation of a new FDA's Center for Tobacco Products within 0 days after the promulgation .
A government source said science Insider that the FDA plans to hire up to 1,000 new employees, including hundreds of scientists to staff the new center of tobacco products. (The agency now has six centers for drug evaluation, food security, devices, biologics, veterinary medicine and toxicology.) The user fee paid by tobacco companies will finance the FDA expansion required by law, including a scientific advisory group on tobacco issues. The bill follows a 07 report by the Institute of Medicine that urged Congress to give the FDA as a regulatory authority.
The bill would not allow FDA to ban nicotine, but would give the agency the authority to require changes in the yields of nicotine and other chemicals in products tobacco. It would prohibit misleading claims such as "reduced risk" "light" and "low tar" and require manufacturers to submit cigarettes applications to the FDA for analysis. Detailed cigarette ingredients lists are also required.
public health researchers who study the risks of tobacco say the impact of the law will depend on the FDA implements new rules and structures of his research on tobacco. Gregory N. Connolly of the Harvard School of Public Health said FDA should focus on reducing tobacco consumption, rather than regulating the industry's efforts to develop "safer" cigarettes.
In a statement, Obama said he plans to sign the law because it "will make history by giving the scientists and medical experts at the FDA the power to take reasonable measures to reduce harmful effects of smoking and prevent tobacco companies from marketing their products to children. "
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