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RESEARCH LETTER: Bars' and restaurants' compliance with the Guatemalan smoke-free law during the 2010 Soccer World Cup: a missed opportunity ($$) 

On February 2009, the Guatemalan Congress passed a nationwide law that banned smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. The Ministry of Health (MoH) is responsible for monitoring law compliance and fining violators. Individuals and venues are subject to economic fines when they break the law.

After a comprehensive smoking ban is implemented, a major challenge is to ensure proper enforcement to guarantee high compliance, particularly in bars. 1 In Guatemala, air nicotine levels were significantly reduced 6 months after law implementation in bars and restaurants and workers' support for the law increased compared with prelaw levels. 2 However, 2 years after, law enforcement by the MoH has …

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Smoking cessation medications and cigarettes in Guatemala pharmacies  

Results A total of 505 pharmacies were evaluated. Cessation medications were available in 115 (22.8%), while cigarettes were available in 29 (5.7%) pharmacies. When available, medications were advertised in 1.7% (2) and cigarettes in 72.4% (21) of pharmacies. Chain pharmacies were significantly more likely to sell cessation medications and cigarettes, and to advertise cigarettes than were non-profit and independent pharmacies.

Conclusion Most pharmacies in Guatemala do not stock cessation medications or cigarettes. Cigarette advertising was more prevalent than advertising for cessation medications. FCTC provisions have not been implemented in Guatemala pharmacies.

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Cancer health disparities research highlighted at AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010 

978. Secondhand tobacco smoke in bars and restaurants in Guatemala: Before and after indoor smoking ban evaluation

A smoking ban in bars and restaurants in Guatemala effectively reduced nicotine levels in these places, but not as much as hoped, which suggests the need for more rigorous enforcement.

"Levels dropped, but we want to see levels go down to zero. There should be no smoking following a ban," said Joaquin Barnoya, M.D., M.P.H., research assistant professor of surgery at Washington University in St. Louis and director of research at the Cardiovascular Institute in Guatemala.

Guatemala implemented its smoking ban in February 2009.

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• Secondhand tobacco smoke in bars and restaurants in Guatemala: Before and after indoor smoking ban evaluation 

A smoking ban in bars and restaurants in Guatemala effectively reduced nicotine levels in these places, but not as much as hoped, which suggests the need for more rigorous enforcement.

"Levels dropped, but we want to see levels go down to zero. There should be no smoking following a ban," said Joaquin Barnoya, M.D., M.P.H., research assistant professor of surgery at Washington University in St. Louis and director of research at the Cardiovascular Institute in Guatemala.

Guatemala implemented its smoking ban in February 2009. Barnoya's research group measured air nicotine levels six months later and compared those levels with those found two years prior.

In 2007, nicotine levels were 4.57 mg/m3 in bars and 0.58 mg/m3 in restaurants.

Six months after the ban went into effect, nearly all bars still had nicotine levels that were measurable. However, the median levels had dropped to 0.32 mg/m3 (an 87 percent reduction). In restaurants, 24 percent had no detectable levels of nicotine. The median level of those restaurants that still registered nicotine levels was 0.03 mg/m3 (a 94 percent reduction).

"This study helps us to see that smoking bans, rather than just a response to popular opinion, have evidence-based results," said Barnoya. "With more commitment and enforcement, we could see these nicotine levels brought down to zero." . . .

This research was recently presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting 2010.

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• Guatemala's Congress Takes Action to Save Lives By Approving Strong Smoke-free Legislation 

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Guatemala's Congress on November 24, 2008, approved sweeping smoke-free legislation requiring that indoor workplaces and public places, including restaurants and bars, be 100 percent smoke-free. This legislation is a major step forward in protecting the health of Guatemala's 13 million residents and workers from the deadly effects of secondhand smoke and adds momentum to the growing smoke-free movement in Latin America and the world. . . .

If signed into law, this legislation would place Guatemala among the ranks of leading smoke-free jurisdictions in the world. It prohibits smoking in enclosed public places, work places and all modes of public transport. We urge President Alvaro Colom to sign the legislation immediately and start the clock ticking on the sixty days before it takes effect under Guatemalan law. We also urge the Ministry of Health to write strong regulations and immediately begin preparations for implementing the law so that Guatemala may join its Latin American neighbors in addressing the tobacco epidemic.

In Latin America, Guatemala joins Uruguay, Panama, Mexico, and five Argentinean provinces in having strong smoke-free laws.

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• Big Tobacco’s Attempts to Derail the Global Tobacco Treaty: Cases from Battleground Countries (PDF) 

Just over ten years ago, the tobacco industry still denied that its products are addictive and harmful to people’s health. The landscape for Big Tobacco has changed dramatically in the past decade. The global tobacco treaty, which took effect earlier this year, gives the international community tools to stand up to tobacco giants, decrease global addiction rates, and reverse the tobacco epidemic. Formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the treaty is a major step for public health and a huge blow to Big Tobacco.

The global tobacco treaty bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and insulates public health policy from interference by tobacco corporations. The treaty’s advertising ban means an end to some of the tobacco industry’s most effective and deadly tactics, like Philip Morris/Altria’s Marlboro Man, in countries that ratify. While Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) continue to aggressively target developing countries to expand markets for their products, the tobacco giants are renewing their efforts to derail the treaty process in countries around the world.

The role of the United States in the global tobacco treaty stands in stark contrast to the majority of the world’s countries. The Bush Administration's decision to sign the global tobacco treaty with great fanfare in May 2004 appears to have been one in a series of public relations maneuvers to gain positive recognition while working to undermine the world's first public health treaty. Throughout the WHO FCTC negotiating process, the US government took positions that would dilute the treaty. The US opposed the advertising ban, and even opposed excluding the tobacco industry from public health policymaking. The purpose of this report is to make public a few salient examples of tobacco industry interference and to provide new information to the public about how tobacco corporations are currently meddling with health policy around the world. The report highlights one success story in overcoming corporate interference and gives an overview of two cases from battleground countries that represent a breadth of tactics currently being employed by the tobacco industry to derail the treaty process. . . .

Thailand’s case stands out as an impressive example of a developing country successfully overcoming years of powerful tobacco industry interference in health policy. In Nigeria, Big Tobacco is using its economic muscle to try to keep treaty ratification off the table for discussion by manipulating media coverage and influencing government agencies.

Guatemala’s current situation exemplifies the need for Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC— requiring parties to the treaty to protect public health policy from industry interference— and the importance of being vigilant to interference throughout the implementation process. The case of Guatemala also illustrates a new variation of old tobacco industry tricks, where Big Tobacco tries to pull the wool over policymakers’ eyes by advocating “regulation” while drafting legislation that actually weakens or conflicts with the tobacco treaty.

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U.S. Supreme Court Declines Foreign Case 

``This is an important decision for Philip Morris and other tobacco companies that have spent much time in recent years on cases that never should have been brought,'' said William S. Ohlemeyer, Philip Morris vice president and associate general counsel. ``We believe the rationale that led to the dismissal of these cases in federal courts applies equally to state courts, and we look forward to the day when all of these foreign cases are dismissed.''

Ohlemeyer added, ``The Supreme Court's decision not to review the case is not surprising, given that all federal circuit courts of appeals to decide issues of third-party plaintiffs -- eight at last count -- have reached the same conclusion. As remarkable as it may sound, each of those appeals courts has issued decisions without a single dissenting judge.''

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Tobacco Companies Fight Off Suits by Three Nations (Update2) 

Philip Morris Cos. and other cigarette makers won the final round in lawsuits by Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ukraine, as the U.S. Supreme Court turned aside an appeal by the three nations.

The suits sought to recoup the costs of treating millions of sick smokers under the national health care programs in those countries. A federal appeals court in Washington threw out the complaints in May.

U.S. judges have uniformly rejected tobacco lawsuits by foreign governments, generally concluding that any losses suffered by public treasuries are too tangential to the alleged wrongdoing to be addressed by a court. . .

``We look forward to the day when all of these foreign cases are dismissed,'' William S. Ohlemeyer, Philip Morris' associate general counsel, said in statement.

Shares of New York-based Philip Morris fell 19 cents to $49.68 in trading today. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., based in Winston Salem, North Carolina, fell 29 cents to $58.32.

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Tobacco Companies Fight Off Suits by Three Nations (Update1)  

Philip Morris Cos. and other cigarette makers won the final round in lawsuits by Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ukraine, as the U.S. Supreme Court turned aside an appeal by the three nations. . .

``We look forward to the day when all of these foreign cases are dismissed,'' William S. Ohlemeyer, Philip Morris' associate general counsel, said in statement.

Shares of New York-based Philip Morris rose 16 cents to $50.03 in midday trading. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. fell 11 cents to $58.50.

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• Tobacco Companies Defeat Bid to Revive Suits by Three Nations 

Philip Morris Cos. and other cigarette makers won the final round in lawsuits by Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ukraine, as the U.S. Supreme Court turned aside an appeal by the three nations.

The suits sought to recoup the costs of treating millions of sick smokers under the national health care programs in those countries. A federal appeals court in Washington threw out the complaints in May.

U.S. judges have uniformly rejected tobacco lawsuits by foreign governments, generally concluding that any losses suffered by public treasuries are too tangental to the alleged wrongdoing to be addressed by a court. . . The case is Guatemala v. Tobacco Institute, 01-338.

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EDITORIAL: Up in smoke 

The governments of five nations Guatemala, Bolivia, Panama, Venezuela and Nicaragua quickly signed on, but none of the nations was willing to take a chance on filing a lawsuit against the tobacco companies in their own courts.

     There was a certain method to their madness. . .

 However, the foreign governments that American tobacco lawyers trundled into U.S. courts to sue cigarette manufacturers were dealt a setback lasy week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissed the case in a unanimous joint ruling. This is all to the good as these cases were without legal merit and would have set a dangerous precedent if allowed to stand.

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Service Employees International Union Health and Welfare Fund, et al. v. Philip Morris Incorporated, et al. 

Accordingly, because the funds' and the nations' claims are "too remote, contingent, derivative, and indirect to survive," Guatemala, 83 F. Supp. 2d at 130,6 we reverse the denial of the motion to dismiss the RICO and fraud claims in Service Employees, and we otherwise affirm the dismissals of the complaints in Service Employees and Guatemala.

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Federal Appeals Court Throws Out Union Lawsuit Against Big Tobacco 

A federal district judge here refused to dismiss the racketeering and antitrust claims raised by the groups, including the Service Employees International Union Health and Welfare Fund. The D.C. Circuit reversed that ruling Tuesday. The appeals court also upheld the dismissal of similar claims in a separate suit filed by Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ukraine.

Circuit Judge Judith W. Rogers noted that seven sister circuits have rejected such claims as too far removed from any alleged injuries caused by smoking. . .

The U.S. Supreme Court has already had a chance to weigh in, but the justices last year turned away a trio of appeals by funds seeking to revive their lawsuits.

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Court Sides With Tobacco Industry 

The tobacco industry scored a legal victory Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled against foreign governments and administrators of union health care funds seeking to recover costs for treating sick smokers. . .

Brown and Williamson attorney Mitch Neuhauser said the ruling "knocks the foundation from lawsuits brought against the tobacco industry by any government institution or third party."

Salomon Smith Barney tobacco analyst Martin Feldman predicted the ruling would make it more difficult for the Justice Department to succeed in a separate lawsuit against the cigarette manufacturers.

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US appeals court dismisses tobacco fraud lawsuits 

A U.S. appeals court gave the tobacco industry a pair of victories on Tuesday, dismissing separate lawsuits by foreign governments and by several union health funds alleging fraud and racketeering violations and seeking to recover smoking-related health care-costs.

The unanimous three-judge appellate panel said in a opinion written by Judge Judith Rogers that the claims were ``too remote, contingent, derivative and indirect'' to survive.

The ruling dismissed the lawsuit by the union health funds, which sought to force the tobacco industry to reimburse them for funds spent on the medical treatment of individual smokers.

It said seven other appeals courts have considered similar lawsuits and have rejected them on the grounds that the health funds were not directly injured by the cigarette makers. The appeals court said a federal trial judge had been wrong in allowing the lawsuit to go forward.

In the other case, the appeals court said a trial judge had been correct in ruling that Guatemala's alleged injuries were ``too remote'' to have been caused by the misconduct of the various tobacco companies. The judge later dismissed similar lawsuits by Nicaragua and the Ukraine.

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