Graphic new health warnings will soon be placed on tobacco products
/ Courtesy: FDA
(AP) -- Big tobacco has taken the Food and Drug Administration to court for a proposed federal requirement that would force them to put graphic warning labels on their cigarette packages in 2012.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled to block the proposed federal requirement until the lawsuit is resolved, which could take years.
Click here to read more from Nedra Pickler with AOL.com.
It is the FDA's goal to depict in graphic detail the negative health effects of tobacco use and among the images released you'll find rotting and diseased teeth and gums and a man with a tracheotomy smoking. The labels would take up the top half of a pack of cigarette packs.
Mandates to introduce the new graphic warning labels were part of a law passed in 2009 that, for the first time, gave the federal government authority to regulate tobacco, including setting guidelines for marketing and labeling, banning certain products and limiting nicotine.
To get more information from the FDA on the proposed label changes CLICK HERE.
Do you think the new health warnings go too far? Leave your comments on the issue below and on our Facebook page.
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKHQA