Tobacco.org

• 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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• Philip Morris, Others Win Dismissal of Tobacco Suits (Update3) 

A federal appeals court threw out racketeering claims by labor unions against Philip Morris Cos. and other U.S. cigarette makers, and dismissed a separate case against the industry by three foreign nations.

Tobacco analysts said the ruling may cast doubt on a U.S. Justice Department suit that seeks hundreds of billions of dollars in damages.

``We consider the news extremely positive and a significant legal victory for the tobacco industry,'' said David Adelman, a tobacco analyst with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

Some experts disagreed, arguing that today's ruling has no bearing on the merits of the racketeering charges made by the government.

The issue in today's ruling ``is completely unrelated to the government's case,'' said William Schultz, a former Justice Department official who supervised the U.S. case. ``The government is not seeking recovery of health-care costs'' in its racketeering allegations as were the unions, he said.

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R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Wins Third-Party Payer Cases In Appeals Court Reversal 

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJRT) and others in the tobacco industry today in four separate cases consolidated for purposes of appeal. The court's decision, which dealt with a case brought by a union health and welfare trust fund, and separate actions brought by three foreign governments, reaffirms Reynolds Tobacco Company's strong belief that claims raised by such third-party payers are without legal merit.

The union trust-fund case was brought on behalf of Service Employees International Union Health and Welfare Fund. Most of the case had already been dismissed by the trial court, but Judge Gladys Kessler (who also presides over the Justice Department's lawsuit pending against the tobacco industry) had allowed certain RICO and fraud claims to continue. Today's court of appeals decision reverses Judge Kessler's decision and orders the dismissal of the remaining claims.

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Federal Court Dismisses Foreign Lawsuits, Reverses Lower Court on Union Health Funds 

A three-judge federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has handed a major defeat to plaintiffs' attorneys bringing lawsuits against U.S. cigarette manufacturers on behalf of foreign governments and U.S. union labor health funds.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously has upheld the dismissal of lawsuits brought by Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Ukraine against U.S. tobacco companies. The court ruling also dealt a major setback to attorneys representing union labor health funds that alleged the companies violated Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes.

``For all practical purposes, this means that the bevy of high-profile plaintiffs' attorneys can unpack their bags and stop trying to peddle lawsuits to foreign governments,'' said Mitch Neuhauser

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• Federal Appeals Court Rejects Tobacco Suits By Foreign Governments and Union Health Funds 

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia also unanimously reversed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler that had kept alive several lawsuits filed by union labor health funds against the tobacco companies alleging Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) violations.

``This decision confirms that foreign governments have no greater legal rights in American courts than U.S. litigants, and it sends a clear message that these cases have no place in the U.S. court system,'' said Steven Rissman, Philip Morris senior assistant general counsel. . .

In the case of the health funds, the Court found that, in addition to suffering no direct injury, ``insurers are hard pressed to demonstrate financial harm flowing from the tobacco industry's alleged wrongdoing because they possess information that would have indicated a need to collect higher premiums from smokers'' and that, ``moreover, the insurers have likely already passed the costs on to the directly injured (smokers) through higher premiums.'' . .

``This decision demonstrates that efforts by plaintiffs' attorneys to travel the globe in an attempt to convince foreign governments to file suits against the tobacco industry in the United States will be futile,'' said Rissman. . .

``It's time for these countries to realize they are being led down a primrose path by plaintiffs' lawyers who are acting like door-to-door lawsuit salesmen, promising results they cannot deliver,'' said Rissman.

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