INTERVIEW - FDA tobacco chief moves ahead despite suits

By Susan Heavey and Lisa Richwine

ROCKVILLE, Md. (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is enforcing its ban on flavored tobacco products and preparing to review controversial menthol cigarettes, undeterred by legal challenges from some tobacco companies.

Dr. Lawrence Deyton, the agency's tobacco chief, told Reuters on Tuesday that the lawsuits from Reynolds American Inc, Lorillard Inc and others are not slowing his work setting up the FDA's tobacco unit or taking action against products that harm the public, especially children.

"Congress is very clear what it wants me to do, I'm moving ahead. Nobody's told me not to," Deyton said in an interview at his office in one of the agency's satellite buildings in suburban Maryland, 15 miles from the main FDA headquarters.

The FDA Center for Tobacco Products, established by law in June, is charged with regulating cigarettes and other tobacco products. It will oversee manufacturing and marketing, in part by regulating ingredients and setting advertising rules.

The agency took its first major action in September, banning cigarettes that can appeal to children, such as cinnamon and chocolate flavored cigarettes.

FDA enforcement staff are out searching for violators that may try to get around the ban, Deyton said. "It is important for the world to know, yes, we've put in place this ban on flavored cigarettes, and yes, we are enforcing it."

The flavored cigarette ban is being challenged in court by several privately-held companies and distributors.

Major cigarette makers such as Reynolds and Lorillard sued the FDA in August, saying the tobacco law limited the companies' free speech rights with advertising restrictions. Altria Group Inc's Philip Morris unit, the nation's largest tobacco company and a supporter of the FDA's new oversight, is not part of the lawsuit.