Judge blocks rules on graphic cigarette labels [View All]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON | Mon Nov 7, 2011 11:24am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge sided with tobacco companies on Monday, granting a temporary injunction blocking rules requiring new warning labels that use graphic images like a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a hole in his throat.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon granted a temporary injunction after determining that the tobacco companies would likely prevail in their lawsuit challenging the Food and Drug Administration's requirement as unconstitutional because it compels speech in violation of the First Amendment.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh and Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/07/us-fda-tobacco-idUSTRE7A63V120111107