An attorney for the federal Food and Drug Administration told an apparently sympathetic U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that the agency did nothing untoward in rejecting vape-liquid manufacturers seeking to get their flavored electronic cigarette products to market, saying the companies had sufficient notice of the public health evidence they needed—but failed—to present.

That evidence, as stated in the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, is a showing that the product's benefits in reducing smoking by adults substantially outweighs the risk of children getting hooked on the nicotine-containing products, said Deputy U.S. Solicitor General Curtis Gannon on the FDA's behalf.