FDA’s Innovative Plan to Address the Enormous Toll of Smoking

On July 28, 2017, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, announced a comprehensive regulatory plan to expedite reducing the toll of more than 480 000 annual tobacco-related deaths in the United States.¹ The plan is predicated on recognition that “nicotine—while highly addictive—is delivered through products that represent a continuum of risk and is most harmful when delivered through smoke particles in combustible cigarettes.”¹