The FDA Makes Announcements Related to Smoking and Nicotine Addiction

2025 opened with announcements from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about cessation of smoking and the reduction of nicotine addiction. The first of the two announcements was a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. This would call for a reduction in nicotine in combustible tobacco products to levels that are not addictive. This has been requested by public health advocates since 2009’s Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which authorized such a change. The agency has set out a comment period that from January 16 all the way to September 15 of this year. However, the other announcement had to do with authorizing 3 mg and 6 mg nicotine content in a broader range of flavors of 20 Zyn nicotine pouches, which seems potentially dangerous for children. If your child was harmed by a nicotine pouch or other addictive nicotine product, call the knowledgeable product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group.

Consult the Trustworthy Moll Law Group About Your Nicotine Claim

In a time when the harms of nicotine to the body and brain, particularly on youth brain development, are increasingly clear, it seems surprising that the FDA would authorize 20 Zyn nicotine pouches in multiple attention-grabbing flavors like Peppermint, Chill, Smooth, Citrus, and Cinnamon. The second announcement seems to cut against the general tendency of the FDA to try to spur smoking cessation, such as by calling for reductions of nicotine in other products.

The agency justifies the decision allowing for greater marketing efforts with the claim that adults who use Zyn have switched entirely to those products to consume nicotine rather than smoke cigarettes or obtain smokeless tobacco. It claims that the Zyn products have less deleterious chemicals than those other products. It also argues that it will keep an eye on Zyn marketing to make sure the manufacturer is complying with the nuances of the marketing order—Zyn isn’t allowed to promote these products to children or teens, and the marketing order can be rescinded for noncompliance.

As a member of the public, it’s important to realize that the market for these products keeps changing and so do the laws. In some cases, it is appropriate for parents to pursue compensation for harm done by nicotine products.

In December, Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb of D.C. announced that the Zyn nicotine pouch manufacturers would be paying $1.2 million to resolve claims that the manufacturer facilitated sales of the flavored products in violation of a D.C. ban on the products, a ban that was put in place because, the Attorney General commented, they threaten to reverse the huge steps forward previously made in reducing use of the dangerous and addictive tobacco products among children and adolescents.

In some cases, it is appropriate to bring a lawsuit against a manufacturer that puts out products that are defective and therefore cause injury. Product defects that are actionable include not only manufacturing defects and design defects but also, importantly in the context of the aforementioned nicotine products, marketing defects.

If your child was harmed by Zyn pouches or other nicotine products, you may be able to recover compensation through a product liability lawsuit. We represent plaintiffs who have been harmed around the country. If you were harmed by Zyn nicotine products, please contact our experienced Chicago-based trial attorneys about your legal options, either by completing our online form or by calling us at 312.462.1700.