FDA seeks White House approval to cut nicotine levels in cigarettes, NYT says

The Food and Drug Administration is seeking approval from the Biden administration in its fifnal months to propose a major reduction in the amount of nicotine found in cigarettes, the New York Times’ Christina Jewett reports. The administration submitted the proposal to the Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday, a sign that the move was possibly more wishful and symbolic than realistic for a White House grappling with a high number of late-term agenda itetms, the author notes. “I think it’s a milestone in progress toward the single most game-changing tobacco regulatory policy, in terms of lives that could be saved, that F.D.A. could ever do,” said Mitch Zeller, a former director of the agency’s tobacco center. “Having said that, it’s only a proposed rule, and we’re obviously in the waning days and weeks of an outgoing administration.” Publicly traded companies in the space include Altria Group (MO), British American Tobacco (BTI), Imperial Brands (IMBBY) and Philip Morris (PM).