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Food and Drug Administration v. SWT Global Supply, Inc., et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 21-60762, 21-60777, 21-60778, 21-60779, 21-60801 · judgment July 31, 2024


GVR'd · April 21, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 32% cert probability (95% interval 23%–42%)

Before the decision, about 7.7× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a federal-government petitioner, counsel who has won certiorari before, and a Fifth Circuit decision below, and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, Div. A, 123 Stat. 1776, requires a person to obtain authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before introducing a new tobacco product into interstate commerce. The agency may grant such authorization only if the applicant shows, among other things, that the marketing of the product would be “appropriate for the protection of the public health.” 21 U.S.C. 387j(c)(2)(A). In this case, the agency denied respondents’ applications for authorization to market new e-cigarette products because they had failed to show that marketing the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health. The question presented is: Whether the court of appeals erred in setting aside FDA’s denial orders as arbitrary and capricious. (I)

Counsel of record

For petitioner
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

For respondent
Jerad Wayne Najvar
Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufmann LLC

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences

Proceedings

  1. May 23 2025
    Judgment Issued.
  2. Apr 21 2025
    Petition GRANTED. Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED for further consideration in light of FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC, 604 U. S. ___ (2025).
  3. Apr 14 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/17/2025.
  4. Jan 22 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/21/2025.
  5. Jan 22 2025
    Reply of petitioner Food and Drug Administration filed. (Distributed)
  6. Jan 06 2025
    Brief of respondents SWT Global Supply, Inc., et al. in opposition filed.
  7. Dec 05 2024
    Response Requested. (Due January 6, 2025)
  8. Dec 04 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/10/2025.
  9. Nov 29 2024
    Waiver of right of respondent SWT Global Supply, Inc., et al. to respond filed.
  10. Nov 21 2024
    Supplemental brief of petitioner Food and Drug Administration filed.
  11. Oct 29 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 29, 2024)