Nicorette is a "DRUG" product marketed for therapeutic purposes.
They achieved FDA approval as a smoking cessation drug, thus it is in a different category and not a tobacco product.
"Under the FD&C Act, the definition of “drug” includes articles intended: (1) for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease, or (2) to affect the structure or any function of the body. Similarly, “device” is defined to include articles intended: (1) for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or (2) to affect the structure or any function of the body.
Between 2008 and 2010, the FDA determined that certain electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were unapproved drug/device combination products and detained and/or refused admission to those offered for import by Sottera, Inc. and other manufacturers. Sottera, Inc. challenged that determination in court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in Sottera, Inc. v. Food & Drug Administration, 627 F.3d 891 (D.C. Cir. 2010), recently issued a decision with regard to e-cigarettes and other products “made or derived from tobacco” and the jurisdictional line that should be drawn between “tobacco products” and “drugs,” “devices,” and combination products, as those terms are defined in the FD&C Act. The court held that e-cigarettes and other products made or derived from tobacco can be regulated as “tobacco products” under the Act and are not drugs/devices unless they are marketed for therapeutic purposes.
The government has decided not to seek further review of this decision, and FDA will comply with the jurisdictional lines established by Sottera."
