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'A pretty thorough victory' for Big Tobacco, law expert says
Jump to full article: AP, 2007-02-22
Intro: Suits filed against two cigarette makers over the marketing of "light" cigarettes have been thrown out by a federal appeals court.
Earlier this month, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the 2003 suits filed by two people against the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and by five people against Philip Morris USA Inc.
Although the suits alleged the companies had falsely marketed "light" cigarettes as safer, none of the plaintiffs claimed they had been injured from smoking or sought compensation for medical expenses. Rather, they sought damages based upon alleged false marketing. . . .
David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which acquired Brown & Williamson in 2004, said the 5th Circuit "has made clear that lawsuits attacking the term 'lights' and the marketing of 'light' cigarettes are at odds with the comprehensive cigarette labeling system that Congress has established. As a result, any such lawsuits are barred under federal law." . . .
"We have long maintained that the U.S. Congress and the Federal Trade Commission created a regulatory scheme for marketing low tar and "lights" cigarettes, and that this type of lawsuit is legally improper as a result of that federal law and regulation," William S. Ohlemeyer, Philip Morris USA vice president and associate general counsel, said in a statement released late Thursday.
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