On May 11, 2026, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong led a bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to abandon draft guidance that would ease approvals for flavored e-cigarette products. The coalition argues the guidance ignores evidence that flavored e-cigarettes disproportionately drive youth addiction and that FDA has failed to enforce existing authorization requirements for e-cigarette products. The letter references past tobacco and e-cigarette enforcement actions, including the 1998 tobacco master settlement agreement and the 2022 $438.5 million settlement with JUUL Labs.
This action is not a privacy or data protection enforcement, so no privacy-related contract clauses require review. Entities in the e-cigarette or tobacco industry should review marketing, sales, and distribution agreements for compliance with FDA authorization requirements, restrictions on flavored product sales, and prohibitions on youth-targeted advertising. All other in-house teams will find no relevant contract updates based on this press release.
Entity
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Industry
OtherOfficial Press Release
https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2026-press-releases/attorney-general-tong-leads-coalition-urging-fda-to-reverse-guidance
attorneys general may 11 2026 comment letter to fda re lower
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/press_releases/2026/attorneys-general-may-11-2026-comment-letter-to-fda-re-lower-risk-flavored-ends.pdf?rev=d843c1dd9ed849f793f0b7b43765b66b&hash=A7B07BE084EE31A4D9DC8F440FEC9DDB
Connecticut Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Privacy/Privacy-Resources
"Attorney General Tong Leads Coalition Urging FDA to Reverse Guidance Easing Sales of Flavored E-Cigarettes"
"05/11/2026"
"Office of the Attorney General William Tong"
"bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general"
"U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)"
"bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general"
$625K
Connecticut reached a $625,000 settlement with Frontier Communications Parent Inc. over an April 2024 breach in which compromised employee and vendor credentials were used to access internal systems and exfiltrate unencrypted personal information of 58,841 Connecticut residents. The settlement requires Frontier to strengthen its security program, implement specific safeguards and training, and obtain an independent third-party assessment.
$2.6M
Connecticut and New York found that Boston Children’s Health Physicians and its security vendor, XTIUM, failed to use reasonable safeguards, resulting in hackers accessing sensitive personal, medical, and employee information. The companies agreed to pay penalties totaling $2.64 million and implement enhanced cybersecurity measures.
Connecticut joined a coalition of state attorneys general filing a notice in Character Technologies, Inc.’s bankruptcy proceedings, raising concerns about the company’s safety and privacy practices and the sensitive information it holds. The states seek protections for children and consumers if the company’s business or assets are sold or transferred; the filing does not impose a fine or other remedy.
Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman petitioned PURA to review how Connecticut public utilities use artificial intelligence, citing potential data privacy and cybersecurity risks, algorithmic errors, and misleading outputs. The petition asks PURA to examine utility AI systems, safeguards, vendors, and data security practices; it does not report a finding of violation or an imposed penalty.
$2.0M
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced a settlement with RZ Smoke, Inc. over allegations that it distributed and sold high-potency cannabis products without a state license. The stipulated judgment is $2 million, with $375,000 payable to the State and $1.6 million suspended to ensure compliance; the company is barred from specified cannabis activities in Connecticut unless licensed.
$13.7M
Connecticut joined a coalition of states and the federal government in settling allegations that Takeda paid healthcare providers speaker honoraria and provided meals to induce prescriptions of Trintellix, leading to allegedly false claims to government healthcare programs. Takeda agreed to pay $13,670,921 plus accrued interest, with portions allocated to federal and state programs.