Federal Judge Grants Injunction, Blocks Iowa PMTA Registry For Now

A federal judge has issued an injunction preventing the state of Iowa from enforcing its PMTA registry law while a lawsuit challenging the registry plays out. Chief Judge Stephanie Rose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa found in favor of the vaping industry plaintiffs yesterday.

Registry bill HF 2677 was passed by the state legislature last April and signed into law by the governor in May. An Iowa vaping industry association, IFAST, along with several individual businesses, sued the state in December 2024, seeking to block enforcement of the law, which was set to begin in February.

The Iowa Attorney General agreed to pause enforcement until a motion for a preliminary injunction was heard by the court.

Judge agrees with Supremacy Clause claim

Judge Rose agreed with the plaintiffs’ claim that the Iowa registry law violated the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, stepping on the FDA’s sole authority to enforce regulations enacted under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA—of which the Tobacco Control Act is a part). The state, she said, cannot choose to enforce rules the FDA has already exercised its discretion to ignore.

"As Plaintiffs correctly observe, Congress deliberately centralized FDCA enforcement authority in the FDA through Section 337(a), recognizing that inconsistent state enforcement regimes would undermine the federal regulatory approach,” Judge Rose wrote in her order. “Iowa’s acknowledged purpose in enacting House File 2677—to address 'federal  non-enforcement'—precisely illustrates why Congress vested enforcement authority exclusively with the federal government.” 

The law is now blocked until the district court hears the lawsuit challenging the Iowa law.

VTA files lawsuit challenging North Carolina registry law

The basis of the Iowa lawsuit may offer challengers of other registry laws a successful approach in their lawsuits. 

Attorney Eric Heyer of law firm Thompson Hine LLC (who filed the Iowa lawsuit) filed a similar lawsuit April 30 on behalf of the Vapor Technology Association (VTA), challenging North Carolina’s newly enacted PMTA registry law. The VTA will file a motion for a preliminary injunction next week.