The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent denial of a stay for a tobacco company’s electronic cigarettes brings into question the department’s role in public health and safety as popularity of flavored e-cigarettes increases among children. 

A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied Breeze Smoke LLC’s motion to stay the FDA’s denial of a Premarket Tobacco Product Application for the company’s electronic nicotine delivery systems, or e-cigarettes, on Nov. 12. Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore and Judge Ronald Lee Gilman authored the majority opinion and Judge Raymond Kethledge dissented.