Hillel Levin, Tim Lytton, and Bob Rabin have posted to SSRN Using State Consumer Protection Law to Advance National Public Health and Environmental Policies. The abstract provides:

State Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices (UDAP) statutes—once regarded as niche consumer protection tools—have emerged over the past two decades as powerful policy instruments for addressing urgent public health and environmental challenges. Private parties and government entities have filed UDAP lawsuits aimed at reducing tobacco-related illness, opioid addiction, firearms violence, e-cigarette use among children, youth mental health disorders linked to social media, climate change, and plastics pollution. This Article explains the growing use of UDAP litigation as a policy tool and addresses concerns about its legitimacy, effectiveness, and efficiency.