A new study in JAMA Network Open details how the tobacco industry overwhelmed the FDA with form letters opposing a proposed menthol cigarette ban. The agency received 175,000 public comments over three months in 2022, and researchers at Rutgers University found that 97% were form letters. Nearly half shared language from campaigns run by Altria Group or Reynolds American, while most of the rest echoed industry talking points; only 2% were unique.
The tactic is not new — the industry has used it since the 1980s — but the study's authors say it is notable because it appears to have worked. After the comment period closed, the FDA missed deadlines, and the Biden administration indefinitely postponed the ban in April 2024, citing the volume of feedback. The proposal was officially scrapped the following year under President Trump.
The proposed rule was driven by menthol's disproportionate harm to Black Americans, who make up a key market for the cigarettes. According to the CDC, about 80% of Black smokers use menthols, and research cited in the article links menthols to 157,000 smoking-related deaths among Black Americans from 1980 to 2018. The Rutgers researchers found that the form letters largely ignored health concerns, instead repeating industry arguments about adult choice, crime, and small-business harm — claims that the study notes have not been borne out in Canada or the European Union, where menthol bans have not led to the predicted illicit-sales problems.