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Big Tobacco lied but need not pay - What else is new?!
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 12:31 AM    Post subject: Big Tobacco lied but need not pay - What else is new?! Reply with quote

Quote:
Big Tobacco lied but need not pay, judge rules
Industry must make 'corrective statements' but cannot be further penalized
Reuters


Updated: 6:02 p.m. MT Aug 17, 2006
WASHINGTON - Cigarette makers escaped major financial penalties Thursday, even though a federal judge found them liable for violating racketeering laws in a decades-long conspiracy to hide the dangers of smoking.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that a group of tobacco companies had broken the law, but could not be forced to pay monetary penalties such as funding a large anti-smoking campaign, as the government had sought.

“Cigarette smoking causes disease, suffering, and death. Despite internal recognition of this fact, defendants have publicly denied, distorted, and minimized the hazards of smoking for decades,” she said in the 1,653-page opinion.

Kessler said the companies suppressed research, destroyed documents and manipulated nicotine levels to perpetuate addiction, but an appeals court ruling prevented her from slapping the companies with costly remedies.

She did impose some remedies, including ordering the companies to make “corrective” public statements about the health effects and addictiveness of smoking, and banning them from describing cigarettes in ways that convey health claims such as “low tar” and “light.”

Targeted in the 1999 lawsuit were Altria Group Inc. and its Philip Morris USA unit; Loews Corp.’s Lorillard Tobacco unit; Vector Group Ltd.’s Liggett Group; Reynolds American Inc.’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and British American Tobacco Plc unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.

As public health groups expressed disappointment in the outcome, tobacco stocks rose. Altria gained over 3 percent in extended trading after the ruling, Reynolds rose over 2 percent, Carolina Group, a tracking stock for Lorillard, was up over 1 percent.

“Although they lost, they won. It’s a victory for the tobacco companies,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management.

A spokesman for Reynolds Tobacco said the company was disappointed that Kessler ruled in favor of the government, but "certainly we’re pleased that the court did not award unjustified and extraordinary expensive monetary penalties."

The ruling was also seen as the last major hurdle to be cleared before Altria decides when it will spin off its Kraft Foods Inc. business.

Kessler ordered each company to post on its Web site all documents it submitted to prosecutors in the case and transcripts of letters and depositions of former employees about the health impacts of cigarette smoking or research. The material must remain on their Web sites until 2016.

The corrective statements would have to appear on Web sites, in full-page advertisements in major newspapers, on three major television networks and on cigarette packaging.

Little regard for suffering
She also ruled that the tobacco companies will have to pay for the government’s court costs. Current figures are not available, but the government has previously said it spent more than $130 million on the case.

The companies pursued profits “with little, if any, regard for individual illness and suffering, soaring health costs, or the integrity of the legal system,” Kessler said.

Kessler exempted Liggett from the remedies, saying the company “does not have a reasonable likelihood of future (racketeering) violations” because it withdrew from the conspiracy in the mid-1990s.

The judge said she was barred from imposing stricter penalties against the tobacco companies by a February 2005 ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

That opinion, written by appellate Judge David Sentelle, barred the government from seeking $280 billion in past industry profits, depriving the government of its biggest potential weapon in the case.

Lawyers for the Justice Department eventually asked the judge to instead require tobacco companies to fund a 10-year, $14 billion anti-smoking program.

But in Thursday’s opinion, Kessler said that remedy was also out of step with the appeals court ruling, which dictated that civil racketeering remedies focus on the prevention of future misconduct, not punishment of past misdeeds.

Public health groups applauded Kessler for holding the tobacco companies liable but expressed disappointment in the remedies .

“It’s ... worthy of a life sentence but instead they got a slap on the wrist,” Cass Wheeler, the chief executive of the American Heart Association, said in a statement.

The Justice Department applauded Kessler’s finding of liability, and while disappointed with the remedies, was hopeful they could have “a significant, positive impact on the health of the American public.”


Quote:
KEY TOBACCO RULINGS
A federal district court judge ruled on Thursday that cigarette makers conspired for years to hide smoking dangers but declined to impose major monetary penalties.

The decision came in the government’s 1999 lawsuit against Altria Group Inc. and its Philip Morris USA unit; Loews Corp.’s Lorillard Tobacco unit, which has a tracking stock, Carolina Group; Vector Group Ltd.’s Liggett Group; Reynolds American Inc.’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and British American Tobacco Plc unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.

Other key rulings involving the tobacco industry include the following:

— July 2006: Florida Supreme Court refused to reinstate a $145 billion punitive damages award against major cigarette makers found liable for selling a dangerous product. It ruled that the punitive award was “clearly excessive” and said it would “result in an unlawful crippling of the defendant companies.”
— May 2006: Illinois Supreme Court said it would not reconsider its earlier reversal of a $10.1 billion damage award against Philip Morris USA over the marketing of “light” cigarettes. The court in December ordered a lower court to dismiss a class-action case in which the company was accused of defrauding customers into thinking “light” cigarettes were safer than regular ones.
— February 2005: U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit barred the government from seeking $280 billion in past industry profits in the racketeering case decided on Thursday. The appeals court decision deprived the government of its biggest potential weapon. The court said any remedies must focus on the prevention of future misconduct, not punishment of past misdeeds.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14395333/wid/11915773?GT1=8404

... this is nothing but a slap on the wrist ... ridiculous!
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Melody



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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 7:06 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Our governments have encouraged them to hide and bury the truth. I personally don't fault the tobacco company near as much as the government. They are responsible for protecting us whether it be against toxins or terrorist or what ever else might harm their citizens. In Ontario they fine you now for smoking in your vehicle if it is used for work as well as a zillion other places yet cigs are still for sale. The government is at fault for that as it makes them to much money to outlaw yet they don't want any of that going to health care to heal the problem they created.It would be mighty hard to hide all the tobacco fields if the government would just say no. Wink
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 8:51 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am responsible for my addiction. No one took a gun to my head and forced me to smoke. I knew the facts from the very beginning and chose to smoke. Crying or Very sad
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 9:30 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree completely with Alleghany.....people need to take responsibility for putting the cigarette in their mouth in the first place and continuing to poison themselves knowing the facts.

Donna
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 11:49 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with all 3 of you.

I started smoking when I was a child, it was legal for children to buy cigarettes, and 95% of kids my age didn't know the dangers. And even if some did, they were kids and not mature enough to realize that they were not invincible.

I'm not one for passing the buck, but there are a lot of people responsible for the brainwashing that has been done to societies. (example: Curious George books had people smoking in them for goodness sake, what a great image for children to see) And the lies told by big tobacco companies should be paid for imo. No company should get away with lies that contributed to many deaths. It should be a lesson to all businesses and their marketing practices. Unfortunately the judicial system failed imo and has let them off the hook with a smack on the wrist. When we don't learn from history, it repeats itself. What a shame.
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swaneem



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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 1:19 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree....children are a whole other situation. I was referring to adults who started and continued smoking....like myself.

It's my understanding that the biggest increase in smokers now....comes from young women.....in college.

Donna
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shevie



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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 1:34 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I started smoking, smoking was cool, fashionable, and even a conversation starter for meeting people. It wasn't until a few years later that hints of the problems began to be known, but even then it wasn't considered to be any greater hazard than drinking. In fact, it was probably considered safer since nobody ever got "smoked", passed out and ran off the road.

I agree that we are all responsible for our smoking, but I also think that the addictive qualities of tobacco alter our abilities to make responsible decisions. After all, how long did we continue to smoke and justify it to ourselves and others after we learned just how dangerous it was? Wouldn't a "responsible" person immediately quit when they learned that? And how many people try unsuccessfully over and over again to quit? Why don't they just quit once and be done with it?

The tobacco companies, IMO their executives, bear a considerable burden of this responsibility for continuing to produce and market a highly addictive and deadly substance in order to perpetuate their financial gains. They have been trading our health and lives for their yachts and summer homes. I think I'm worth a good deal more than a yacht.

Shevie
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 1:38 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree Shevie.

swaneem wrote:
It's my understanding that the biggest increase in smokers now....comes from young women.....in college.

I read that as well. It is sad and hard to believe.
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londa



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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 2:24 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Allegany said:

Quote:
I am responsible for my addiction. No one took a gun to my head and forced me to smoke. I knew the facts from the very beginning and chose to smoke.
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I agree.

Love, Londa
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 7:07 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
swaneem wrote:
It's my understanding that the biggest increase in smokers now....comes from young women.....in college
.

Well, that's when I started lighting up...doesn't surprise me one bit.
I was 21, and didn't stop until I was 35....

J
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 7:38 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you don't mind me asking Jahunta (or anyone else that was in the same boat), since you knew the dangers of smoking at the time, do you know why you still decided to smoke? Just curious. I hope you don't mind me asking.
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 8:30 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

i think that all of the big tobacco executives who had a part
  1. in the cover-up of the facts surrounding the addictive nature of their product,
  2. in the r&d effort (in which all of the major players took part) to increase both the addictive power of their products and the speed with which addiction would likely occur, or
  3. in the tobacco companies' decades-long marketing campaign to hook children at an ever younger age,
in light of the fact that they admittedly knew the deadly consequences of feeding that addiction over the long term as much as 40 years ago, have done unspeakable evil, and the personal consequences of their choices will be unescapable and infinitely worse than any sentence an american judge could possibly impose.
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shevie



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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 9:22 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree, Kevin. They'll get their reward.


But I'd still like 10 minutes alone with them and a back way out. Laughing Demon

Shevie
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 11:19 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

shevie wrote:
But I'd still like 10 minutes alone with them and a back way out. Laughing Demon

Shevie

I'll be your partner in crime Shevie. Uh-huh, yep, sure will!
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PostPosted: August 18, 2006 11:48 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

shevie wrote:
...I'd still like 10 minutes alone with them and a back way out. Laughing Demon

Very Happy
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