Tobacco companies have been told to inform in product warnings that they deceived consumers regarding the dangers of smoking and deliberately manipulated their cigarettes in order to make smokers more addicted.
The defendants include the Philip Morris, Reynolds American Inc, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and Lorrillard Tobacco Co.
They must also inform the public about how many people die from smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.
US District Judge Gladys Kessler, ruled that tobacco companies had broken federal racketeering laws by deceiving the public over several decades about the health dangers of smoking. The ruling was made after a long-running case involving alleged racketeering against companies that make cigarettes – the case had been tied in the courts for a number of years.
Judge Kessler said that tobacco companies must issue statements regarding the health hazards of cigarettes and tobacco products that appear in the press, packaging, retail displays and TV.
For example, they will have to state that more people die from smoking tobacco products in a single year, than from alcohol, automobile accidents, drugs, suicide, murder and AIDS combined.
Judge Kessler said that cigarette companies deliberately added enough nicotine into their products to make sure their customers became addicted. Giving up smoking has become especially difficult as a result of this.
Smoking kills more people than the combined total deaths from alcohol, automobile accidents, drugs, suicide, murder and AIDS
Kessler has ordered “corrective statements” on five themes:
- The harmful effects of smoking on health
Examples of statements they will have to make include:
– Smoking kills 1,200 Americans each day on average
– More Americans die from smoking than from alcohol, automobile crashes, drugs, suicide, AIDS and murder combined
– Smoking causes acute myeloid leukemia, emphysema, heart disease, and cancers of the pancreas, lung, mouth, esophagus, larynx, stomach, kidney and bladder
– Smoking makes humans less fertile, causes babies to be born with low birth weight, and is a known cause of cancer of the uterus and cervix
- Smoking and nicotine are highly addictive
Examples of statements they will have to make include:
A Federal Court has ruled that the Defendant tobacco companies deliberately deceived the American public about the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine, and has ordered those companies to make this statement.
– Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco. Smoking is highly addictive.
– Tobacco companies deliberately designed their cigarettes with enough nicotine to make consumers addicted and to keep them addicted
– Giving up smoking is not easy
– When nicotine enters your body it changes your brain, making it much harder to quit
- Labeling cigarettes as low tar, light, ultralight, mild and natural has not been shown to provide any significant health benefits
Examples of statements they will have to make include:
A Federal Court has ruled that the Defendant tobacco companies deliberately deceived the American public by falsely selling and advertising low tar and light cigarettes as less harmful than regular cigarettes, and has ordered those companies to make this statement.
– A significant number of smokers, rather than quitting, switch to what they believe are safer and less harmful cigarettes – they are not safer and less harmful.
– Smokers inhale essentially the same quantities of tar and nicotine from “low tar” cigarettes as they would from any other cigarette.
– There is no safe cigarette. They all cause premature death, heart attacks, lung disease and cancer, regardless of what is written on the packaging.
- Tobacco companies deliberately manipulated their product design and composition to make nicotine delivery as effective as possible
Examples of statements they will have to make include:
A Federal Court has ruled that the Defendant tobacco companies deliberately deceived the American public about designing cigarettes to enhance the delivery of nicotine, and has ordered those companies to make this statement.
– Cigarette companies deliberately added nicotine to their products to get people hooked.
– Nicotine delivery impact is controlled by cigarette companies in many ways – they add ammonia to reduce the harshness of the taste, make the filter and cigarette paper in such a way that maximum ingestion of nicotine occurs, and they control the physical and chemical make-up of the tobacco blend.
- The harmful effects of secondhand smoke exposure to health
Examples of statements they will make to make include:
A Federal Court has ruled that the Defendant tobacco companies deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of secondhand smoke, and has ordered those companies to make this statement.
– Non-smoking adults can develop cancer and coronary heart disease from breathing secondhand smoke
– Over 3,000 people in the USA dies from secondhand smoke exposure every year
– Secondhand smoke exposure raises a child’s risk of sudden infant death syndrome, ear problems, severe asthma, acute respiratory infections, and reduced lung function.
– The only safe level of secondhand smoke exposure is none at all.
The tobacco companies had argued that some parts of the statements they had to make violated their rights to free speech under the First Amendment – this was rejected by the judge. The cigarette companies said that the statements they had to make were controversial ones that would trigger emotional responses from smokers – the judge also rejected that argument.
In a 55-page opinion, the judge wrote “Every sentence of the corrective statements is based in specific findings of fact made by this court.”
According to UPI, Reynolds and Altria say they are examining the ruling.
The tobacco industry in the USA and several other countries are facing ever greater government efforts to impose stronger warnings on their products. In 2009, the US Congress granted powers to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to impose more impacting and graphic warnings on cigarette packs.
The FDA has proposed placing several powerful images and phrases on cigarette packaging, including the phrase “smoking can kill you”, as well as images of a dead human on an autopsy table and a patient blowing smoke out of a hole in his neck. This proposal was turned down in August 2012 by an appeals court, saying that they did not show that such images and warning would reduce cigarette consumption (more recently, in November 2012, a study showed that graphic warnings are, in fact, effective). There have been other attempts in court to stop the use of graphic and powerful warnings on cigarette packs. Experts believe the whole issue will end up in the Supreme Court.
There have been a growing number of reports regarding the danger of secondhand smoke exposure over the last couple of years. A study released by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), USA, stated that air pollution produced from secondhand smoke in the smoking areas of airports is five times higher than in completely smoke-free airports.
Written by Christian Nordvist