A coalition of anti-tobacco groups has voluntarily dropped its lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ending a yearlong effort to compel the agency to establish a federal ban on menthol cigarettes.

In April 2024, the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Action on Smoking and Health, the American Medical Association, and the National Medical Association sued the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA in federal court in California, arguing the agency had unlawfully delayed action on menthol.

The judge presiding over the case had ordered the groups to file an amended complaint by next week—an update they have now declined to submit, effectively closing the case.

The lawsuit was filed just weeks before the Biden administration announced it would delay the menthol rule, a move widely considered driven by political concerns ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Earlier this month, shortly after the start of the Trump administration, the FDA formally withdrew both the proposed menthol cigarette ban and a related proposal to ban flavored cigars.

Although the two regulations were separate actions, they had progressed on parallel tracks for years, causing the litigation to be closely watched by cigar manufacturers and importers. The lead plaintiff, the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, was among the groups that filed a 2013 citizen petition urging the FDA to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars—an effort that helped advance the proposals.

With the federal rules now withdrawn, flavored cigars are still legal across the country. Restrictions at the state level remain limited. California and Massachusetts have implemented their own flavor bans, although each includes exceptions that allow certain flavored cigar sales.