Prognosis
U.S. Shelves Plan to Sharply Cut Nicotine in Cigarettes
- Public-health plan was major initiative of former FDA chief
- Nicotine plan removed from federal agenda of regulations
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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U.S. regulators are hitting the brakes on plans to force tobacco companies to drastically reduce addictive nicotine in cigarettes, retreating on an ambitious public-health initiative that comes amid increasing worry about nicotine use among young people.
The Department of Health and Human Services has dropped a proposal unveiled two years ago to cut the level of nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels, according to a regulatory document published on Wednesday.