Graphic Health Images Blocked from U.S. Cigarette Packs, 443,000 Deaths in U.S. Caused by Tobacco Annually

The Food and Drug Administration is going back to the drawing board concerning certain pictures that would have graced the front of U.S. cigarette packs. The government has called the images too graphic and according to The Associated Press, Attorney General Eric Holder said the nine graphic warning labels in June 2011, which had faced opposition, are spurring legal battles regarding the health issues imposed from cigarette smoking. 

The government had until Monday to ask for a U.S. Supreme Court review, and an appeals court upheld that ruling. 

"In light of these circumstances, the Solicitor General has determined ... not to seek Supreme Court review of the First Amendment issues at the present time," Holder wrote in a Friday letter to House Speaker John Boehner notifying him of the decision.

Some of the nation's largest tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., sued to block the mandate to include warnings on cigarette packs as part of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that, for the first time, gave the federal government authority to regulate tobacco. The nine labels originally set to appear on store shelves last year would've represented the biggest change in cigarette packs in the U.S. in 25 years, according to CBS News.

As tobacco companies increasingly rely on their packaging to build brand loyalty and grab consumers through advertising, including magazines, billboards and TV, they have argued that the proposed warnings went beyond factual information into anti-smoking advocacy.

Yet as tobacco use is responsible for approximately 443,000 deaths in the U.S. per year, the government argued that the images factually conveyed the dangers of the products.

The warning labels were to cover the entire top half of cigarette packs, front and back, and include the phone number for a stop-smoking hotline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

In a statement on Tuesday, the FDA said it would "undertake research to support a new rulemaking consistent with the Tobacco Control Act." However, so far, the FDA has not provided a timeline for the revised labels.