The U.S. Department of Justice, together with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently announced the entry of a court order that resolves the government’s long-running civil racketeering lawsuit against the largest United States’ cigarette companies.
The lawsuit was filed in 1999 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Following a 2004-2005 trial, the court found that the cigarette companies had defrauded consumers about the health dangers associated with cigarette smoking.
The order issues last Tuesday order imposes the last of several corrective remedies ordered by the court.
Under the order, defendants are now required to display signs in retail stores featuring corrective statements about the health effects and addictiveness of smoking. The order applies to defendants Altria, Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM USA) and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJRT) as well as to four cigarette brands owned by ITG Brands LLC (ITG).
“Justice Department attorneys have worked diligently for over 20 years to hold accountable the tobacco companies that defrauded consumers about the health risks of smoking,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “Today’s resolution implements the last remedy of this litigation to ensure that consumers know the true dangers of the smoking products they may consider purchasing.”
There are approximately 300,000 retail locations in the United States that sell cigarettes. About 200,000 of those retailers have retail merchandising agreements with PM USA, RJRT and ITG that allow the companies to control how their cigarettes are displayed at those retailers’ stores. The order entered by the court last week requires these companies to amend their agreements with retailers to require the placement of corrective statements in retail stores.
The corrective statements, which are displayed on color signs designed to be eye-catching, provide truthful information to consumers relating to: the adverse health effects of smoking; the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine; the lack of health benefits from cigarettes advertised as light or low tar; cigarette companies’ manipulation of cigarette design and composition to ensure optimum nicotine delivery; and the adverse health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke. The statements include, among other things, that:
• Smoking cigarettes causes numerous diseases and on average 1,200 American deaths every day.
• The nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive and that cigarettes have been designed to create and sustain addiction.
• So-called light, low-tar and natural cigarettes are just as harmful as regular cigarettes.
• Secondhand smoke causes disease and death in people who do not smoke.
The order will go into effect on July 1, 2023 and gives defendants three months to post the required corrective statements.
Retailers will display the signs for 21 months thereafter. The corrective statements will be in both English and Spanish, with the latter required in geographic areas with significant Spanish-speaking populations.
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