Appeals Court Largely Upholds Ruling Against Tobacco Cos
May 22 2009 - 11:41AM
Dow Jones News
A federal appeals court Friday largely upheld a landmark ruling
which found that the tobacco industry violated federal racketeering
laws by deceiving the public about the dangers of smoking.
The court affirmed most remedies that a trial judge imposed
against the tobacco companies, but it rejected the government's
request for additional penalties against cigarette makers.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
said there was ample evidence to conclude that the tobacco industry
knew about the dangers of smoking and attempted to deceive the
public about those health risks.
The appeals court largely upheld remedies imposed by U.S.
District Court Judge Gladys Kessler, who ordered a variety of
marketing, sales and advertising restrictions on the industry.
However, the appeals court rejected the government's bid to
impose other remedies, including a request that the tobacco
industry be forced to fund a national smoking-cessation
campaign.
The appeals court also affirmed an earlier ruling that the
government could not obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in
disgorgement from the tobacco companies.
Defendants in the case included Altria's (MO) Philip Morris
subsidiary, Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), British American Tobacco
PLC (BTI) and Loews Corp.'s (LTR) Lorillard Inc.
-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222;
brent.kendall@dowjones.com