US lawyers take on 'light' cigarettes in court
Lawyers are taking America’s three biggest tobacco companies to court over claims they used words such as ‘‘light’’ and ‘‘low tar’’ to deceive smokers into believing some cigarettes are safer than others.
Class-action lawsuits have been filed against Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, and Brown & Williamson on behalf of smokers in 11 states.
Lawyers are seeking billions of pounds in damages for alleged violations of consumer protection laws.
‘‘It is a scam, because they get people to believe that they reduce health risks when that is a false statement,’’ said Stephen Sheller, a Philadelphia lawyer who began preparing the cases four years ago.
Sheller said he is encouraged that an Oregon jury ruled on Friday that Philip Morris must pay more than £100m (€162m) to survivors of a woman who died of lung cancer. The jury said the company falsely represented low-tar cigarettes as healthier.
Tobacco companies said the lawsuits have no merit. RJ Reynolds spokesman Seth Moskowitz said cigarette manufacturers use terms like ‘‘full flavour,’’ ‘‘lights’’ and ‘‘ultra lights’’ to differentiate strength of taste and amount of tar and nicotine.
The tobacco industry generally uses the term ‘‘light’’ to describe cigarettes with less than 15 milligrams of tar, a carcinogen produced when tobacco is burned. Tar helps deliver nicotine to smokers.
The effort to market low-tar cigarettes gained momentum in the 1960s, after some health advocates said they could reduce health risks.
Former US Surgeon General Julius Richmond recommended in 1981 that smokers switch to lights if they could not quit. That position has been dropped, but sales of light cigarettes have boomed.
They now account for the majority of cigarettes sold in America.
