U.S. judge tosses FDA panel report on menthol cigarettes

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U.S. judge tosses FDA panel report on menthol cigarettes

By Mica Rosenberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Monday in favor of two tobacco companies that challenged a 2011 U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee report on menthol cigarettes, finding three of the panel's members had conflicts of interests. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ordered the FDA reconstitute the committee and barred the agency from using the panel's findings, which said removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit public health. Lorillard Inc and Reynolds American Inc's R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co unit filed the lawsuit in 2011 arguing the panel's members were biased against the industry. Three of the panel's expert doctors had worked for lawyers suing tobacco manufacturers or consulted for pharmaceutical companies designing smoking-cessation drugs, the opinion said.

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