Judge Blocks Cigarette Warning Labels

{Washington, D.C.}...Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon blocked graphic new warning labels scheduled to appear next year on all cigarette packs sold in the United States, saying they impinge on the tobacco companies’ right to free speech. Judge Leon halted use of the labels until the companies’ lawsuit against the federal government is concluded, a process that could take years and may end up in the Supreme Court. The labels, unveiled by the federal Food and Drug Administration in June, are the first change in cigarette pack warnings in 25 years. The government’s nine warning labels include one showing a dead man with stitches down his chest and another depicting a tracheal tube with smoke coming out of it. If the FDA prevails,  the United States would become the 44th nation to enact pictorial health warnings for cigarettes. Christopher W. Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, called the decision “bad for public health” and a “victory for Big Tobacco.”