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. Under th ... Jump to full article >>

A Delaware tobacco company is suing Dyer businesses for damages after the stores allegedly sold counterfeit Newport cigarettes, according to an amended complaint filed this week in Hammond federal court. Lorillard Tobacco Co. filed a federal lawsuit against Dyer’s Smokers Den and Always Open convenience store, both located in the 15000 block of West 101st Avenue, and the company shareholders, Subhash Malhotra, Manzoor Hussain, Amanat Hussa ... Jump to full article >>

A group of Florida smokers asked a federal appeals court Tuesday not to force each of them to prove that smoking causes illness in the thousands of individual lawsuits moving through federal court. Such a ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals would mean that the more than 4,000 plaintiffs wouldn’t need extensive — and costly — expert testimony to prove to each jury that their nicotine addiction caused lung cancer and othe ... Jump to full article >>

Thirteen Washington area residents were indicted on charges of trading guns, drugs and cash for black market cigarettes to sell in New York, according to documents filed in federal court in Alexandria. Two conspirators are also accused of hiring a hit man to kill a husband and wife that they believed tried to steal from them. “The alleged crimes go far beyond illegal cigarettes, but also involve drugs, guns, and a plot to murder,” U. ... Jump to full article >>