FDA Announces Final Cigarette Health Warnings

From the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Food and Drug Administration:
This morning, the FDA announced the nine cigarette health warnings required to appear on every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States and in every cigarette advertisement. This bold measure is aimed at making sure that every American understands the dangers of smoking.
The warnings represent the most significant changes to cigarette labels in more than 25 years and will affect everything from packaging to advertisements. Manufacturers are required to place them on all cigarette packs, cartons and ads by no later than September 2012.

Each warning is accompanied by the phone number 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a smoking cessation resource, so it will be seen at the time it is most relevant to smokers, increasing the likelihood that smokers who want to quit will be successful. Tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States, responsible for 443,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It costs our economy nearly $200 billion every year in medical care and lost productivity.

The introduction of these warnings is expected to have a significant public health impact by decreasing the number of smokers - resulting in lives saved, increased life expectancy and improved health status.

» Watch the event live at 11:30pm CT and 12:30pm CT at WhiteHouse.gov/live
» Tweet at the Twitter Town Hall with Dr. Howard Koh, the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS, and Dr. Lawrence Deyton, Director of the Center for Tobacco Products @FDATobacco at 2:30 PM
To participate and ask questions, simply follow along at the hashtag
#cigwarnings and make sure to tag your Twitter questions with
#cigwarnings.

For More Information
» Visit FDA's Cigarette Health Warning Webpage
» Read the Press Release
» Read the Frequently Asked Questions
» Read the Consumer Update