Judge Criticizes Cigarette Makers, Adopts New Warning Statements
February 09 2016 - 2:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Brent Kendall
WASHINGTON--The federal judge presiding over government
litigation against tobacco companies in a Monday opinion blasted
cigarette makers for continuing to fight her court order requiring
them to warn the public about the dangers of smoking.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, based in Washington, adopted
revised language Monday for the product warnings and rejected as
"ridiculous" the latest legal arguments being made by the tobacco
companies. She said the defendants were trying to further delay the
resolution of a case that began in 1999.
Judge Kessler has presided over the litigation for more than 15
years.
"The court has no intention of following that path, although it
is obvious that defendants are, once again, attempting to stall any
final outcome to this long-standing litigation," Judge Kessler
wrote in an 11-page opinion.
The judge a decade ago ruled tobacco companies violated civil
racketeering law by participating in a lengthy scheme to deceive
consumers about the dangers of smoking. She ordered them to issue
"corrective statements" revealing the truth about their products to
prevent future deception. Those statements are to appear in
newspaper and television ads, as well as on the companies' websites
and product packaging.
Altria Group Inc., its Philip Morris USA subsidiary, and R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co. have continued to battle with government
lawyers and antismoking advocates over the content of the
statements.
A federal appeals court last year found fault with part of the
language Judge Kessler adopted for the product warnings. That court
said the judge could require cigarette makers to say they
intentionally designed cigarettes to sustain addiction but couldn't
force them to say they deliberately deceived the public.
Judge Kessler on Monday said the warnings could be revised
fairly simply to conform to the appeals court's requirements. She
criticized the tobacco companies for seeking a wholesale rewrite of
the warnings. "That is ridiculous--a waste of precious time, energy
and money for all concerned--and a loss of information for the
public," the judge wrote.
The cigarette makers could appeal again.
Altria and Reynolds declined to comment.
Tripp Mickle contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 09, 2016 14:22 ET (19:22 GMT)
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