A courtroom bid to block implementation of the FDA tobacco-regulation law filed by a top cigarette company has been denied by a federal judge, the Associated Press reported Nov. 5.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. sought a preliminary injunction against the law passed by Congress that gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products. But U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. denied the request, saying that the firms' free-speech case was unlikely to succeed.

The ruling focused on the companies' legal challenge to restrictions on marketing of so-called modified-risk tobacco products. The lawsuit was filed by Reynolds and Lorillard, Inc.