Tweet Last week, Big Tobacco players Altria, Lorillard, and Reynolds American closed out a 13-year legal battle with a victory. These tobacco companies and others were sued by the city of St. Louis and 37 area hospitals for nearly $455 million in a bid to recover costs from 1993 to 2010 of treating smoking-related illnesses for patients who were unable to pay. The hospitals claimed that the industry had purposely produced an “unreasonably d ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet THE tobacco industry will take its fight over plain packaging to the Federal Court, after a tribunal affirmed the government’s right to withhold the secret legal advice authorising the plan. British American Tobacco has confirmed to The Australian it will appeal against an Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruling refusing the company access to the Keating-era document on the grounds of legal professional and parliamentary privilege. Und ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Florida consumers send more than $3.7 billion annually to tobacco giants in Richmond, Va., and Winston-Salem, N.C., and a few other states. These major tobacco companies control more than 80 percent of the market in Florida and the nation. Phillip Morris/Altria and RJ Reynolds manufacture Marlboro, Camel and other top brands at enormous factories employing thousands of workers in states other than Florida. Four of the biggest companies also ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Legislation that would let cities regulate smoking in public has prompted the tobacco industry to hire more lobbyists in Oklahoma in its effort to defeat the legislation. Big tobacco companies have hired a slew of influential Oklahoma lobbyists this year to help the industry defeat legislation that would let cities regulate smoking. There are at least 13 lobbyists for tobacco companies at the Capitol this year, up from nine at this time las ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet With great fanfare and flatulence, Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner announced that the newly elected Republican majority would be the “people’s house.” With great fanfare and flatulence, Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner announced that the newly elected Republican majority would be the “people’s house.” This from the man who you can watch on video admitting that he passed out campaign contributions from the tobacco lo ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has accused tobacco companies of using Freedom of Information (FOI) laws to delay anti-smoking reforms. British American Tobacco and Philip Morris have taken out a request for tens of thousands of documents relating to the Government’s plan to introduce plain packaging laws. If implemented, colours, brands, logos and promotional text on cigarette packets will all be banned and the packet will be co ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet WASHINGTON — The Justice Department wants the largest cigarette manufacturers to admit that they lied to the American public about the dangers of smoking, forcing the industry to set up and pay for an advertising campaign of self-criticism for past behavior. As part of a 12-year-old lawsuit against the tobacco industry, the government on Wednesday released 14 “corrective statements” that it says the companies should be require ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet A meaningful ruling came out yesterday in a lawsuit filed by a group of smokers against Korea Tomorrow & Global (formerly Korea Tobacco & Ginseng), which manufactures and sells tobacco products. The Seoul High Court ruled that there was considerable correlation between smoking and lung cancer. It added that the plaintiffs had been smoking for a long period of time and suffered lung cancer, acknowledging the epidemiological releva ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet It’s been 12 years since the major class-action Tobacco Settlement Agreement was made between the attorneys general of 46 states, including Indiana, and the four largest tobacco companies. Indiana’s share of the settlement created a trust fund for a state program dedicated to tobacco control. Ten years after the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation (ITPC) organization was formed and significant progress has been made to reduce smoki ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Like the Trojan Horse of Greek mythology, House Bill 1353 was rolled into town on wheels of treachery loaded with legislators willing to do the tobacco industry’s bidding. Like the Trojan Horse of Greek mythology, House Bill 1353 was rolled into town on wheels of treachery loaded with legislators willing to do the tobacco industry’s bidding. It doesn’t take a genius to know that House Bill 1353’s true target had nothing to do with ... Jump to full article >>