Now the FDA must decide whether to file a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to accept the case for a hearing.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has denied the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s petition that the full panel of District of Columbia Circuit Court judges rehear the cigarette graphic warning label case, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. 

On Aug. 24, 2012, a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Circuit Court ruled on a 2-1 basis that the FDA’s cigarette graphic warning labels were unconstitutional. 

In response, the FDA filed a petition for a full panel of the District of Columbia Circuit Court judges to hold another hearing on the case.  This request was denied in the order issued on Dec. 5.

Now the FDA must decide whether to file a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to accept the case for a hearing.

Five major tobacco manufacturers and a NATO retail member have already filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, requesting that it accept for review a separate decision issued in March of 2012 by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which upheld the constitutionality of the FDA’s graphic cigarette health warnings. Under U.S. Supreme Court rules, the Supreme Court has the discretion to either accept or deny a petition to hear a case, NATO reported.