Smoke got in their eyes: the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act and preemption.

The US Supreme Court found that the express legislative intent of the 1969 amendments to the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act was to preempt state tort claims such as those brought in Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. A plurality of the Court ruled that the plaintiff's claims for failure to warn, fraudulent misrepresentation and others were subject to the preemption defense because Congress had intended the federal statute to provide exclusive remedies. This decision, in conflict with prior case law, will have the effect of limiting tobacco industry liability.