The Food and Drug Administration is failing to follow established ethical principles by leaving the public in the dark about the relative dangers of smokeless tobacco compared to cigarettes.

The failure of the FDA to adequately inform the public that smokeless tobacco products are significantly safer than cigarettes stands in the way of achieving the best outcomes for public health, according to a paper published in Addictive Behaviors by professor David T. Sweanor and assistant professor Lynn T. Kozlowski.