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Findings of Decades of Massive Fraud by Tobacco Industry Upheld in U.S. Court of Appeals 

This decision overwhelmingly affirms findings of liability and remedies by the lower court - findings that are especially damning for the tobacco industry. However, we regret that the Court upheld the lower court decision that the remedies available under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) were limited and cannot be forward looking. The Foundation hopes that the Department of Justice will continue its strong advocacy on behalf of the victims of this massive fraud, as well as future victims of tobacco addiction and disease.

As this case moves forward, possibly to the Supreme Court, the Foundation supports both the government and our public health colleagues who argued for the efficacy and long-term health benefits derived from funding effective counter marketing programs to address youth smoking prevention and adult smoking cessation. These advocates intervened on behalf of the American public to assert that these remedies could save countless lives by funding effective programs to keep teens from starting to smoke, limit the effects of secondhand smoke and provide critical tools to help tobacco-addicted adults quit.

"With this decision, decades of deceptive marketing practices leading to massive disease and death have finally come home to roost for the tobacco industry," said American Legacy Foundation President & CEO Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH. "More than 400,000 Americans lose their lives to tobacco-related diseases each year."

Healton, who testified in the lower court proceedings, added that "research has consistently shown that for every dollar spent on prevention and cessation programs, lives are saved."

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