| Litigants: | FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments, L.L.C. |
| Fullname: | Food and Drug Administration v. Wages and White Lion Investments, L.L.C., dba Triton Distribution, et al. |
| Docket: | 23-1038 |
| Prior: | Stay pending review granted, 16 F.4th 1130 (5th Cir. 2021); petitions for review denied, 41 F.4th 427 (5th Cir. 2022); FDA denial orders set aside, 90 F.4th 357 (5th Cir. 2024) (en banc); cert. granted (July 2, 2024) |
| Questionspresented: | Whether the court of appeals erred in setting aside FDA's denial orders as arbitrary and capricious. |
FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments, L.L.C. is a pending United States Supreme Court case about the Food and Drug Administration's denial of approval for flavored vape products.
The court will review the FDA's actions for whether they were arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Two makers of e-cigarette liquids, Wages and White Lion Investments (doing business as Triton Distribution) and Vapetasia, applied to the FDA in 2020 for authorization of e-liquid flavors such as "Suicide Bunny Mother's Milk and Cookies" and "Iced Pineapple Express".[1] The FDA denied approval, explaining that the companies had not shown that the flavors' potential benefit to adult smokers would outweigh the risk to youth.[2]
The FDA's decisions were reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In January 2024, the full 5th Circuit voted 10–6 in favor of the companies, setting aside the denial orders. The FDA petitioned to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.[3] The case is expected to be argued and decided between October 2024 and June 2025.