Tobacco.org

Court Says Group Can Sue Altria for Fraud in ‘Light’ Cigarette Advertising 

The 1965 law established federal health warning labeling requirements for cigarettes. It also mandated that no “requirement or prohibition based on smoking and health shall be imposed under state law” regarding advertising or promotion of cigarettes packaged with the requisite labeling.

That provision, the court ruled, did not pre-empt a fraud claim by the Maine smokers because such a claim is not based on smoking and health.

“We conclude . . . that the Labeling Act does not pre-empt state-law claims like respondents’ that are predicated on the duty not to deceive,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in the court’s opinion.

Jump to full article »