Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Judge Kessler orders Tobacco Companies to Correct False Statements

In 1999 the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Consumer Protection Litigation filed suit against the tobacco companies. (DOJ archive)  After trial, in a massive 2006 "final opinion" U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler detailed lies the tobacco companies told and ordered them to correct the record publicly.  Among the most egregious was the denial that nicotine is addictive, particularly since the biggest seller - Marlboro - was fueled by the addition of ammonia which increased the amount of nicotine inhaled with the smoke. She found as fact:

Nicotine "Manipulation":  Defendants  Have Falsely Denied
that They Can and Do Control the Level of Nicotine Delivered
In Order to Create and Sustain Addiction.
For Decades, Defendants Have Recognized that
Controlling Nicotine Delivery, in Order to Create and
Sustain Smokers’ Addiction, Was Necessary to Ensure
Commercial  Success . .


Now Kessler has issued a remedial order. Among the statements are:

Corrective Statement A: Adverse Health Effects of Smoking
A Federal Court has ruled that the Defendant tobacco companies deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking,1 and has ordered those companies to make this statement.2 Here is the truth:
• Smoking kills, on average, 1200 Americans. Every day.3
• More people die every year from smoking than from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes, and alcohol, combined.4
• Smoking causes heart disease,5 emphysema,6 acute myeloid leukemia,7 and cancer of the mouth,8 esophagus,9 larynx,10 lung,11 stomach,12 kidney,13 bladder,14 and pancreas.15
• Smoking also causes reduced fertility,16 low birth weight in newborns,17 and cancer of the cervix18 and uterus.19
The Citations are HERE on the blog Tobacco on Trial, which comprehensively covers U.S. v. Philip Morris.

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