Tobacco firms get partial win in claims on smoking effects

WASHINGTON — America’s largest tobacco companies must inform consumers that cigarettes were designed to increase addiction, but not that they lied to the public about the dangers of smoking, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir- cuit is a partial win for cigarette makers in the legal fight that began during the Clinton administration in 1999. In this latest round, the companies objected to running court-ordered advertisements that would have branded them as liars.

The ads would have begun with a preamble statement that the companies “deliberately deceived the American public.” The ads stem from a 2006 court ruling ordering the companies to admit they had lied for decades about the dangers of smoking.

The companies called that statement overbroad and misleading. But government lawyers argued it was meant to provide context for the public.

The appeals court ruled that the statement must focus on preventing future violations, not past misconduct. Writing for the three-judge panel, Judge David Tatel said the preamble language in the ads about past deception went beyond the remedies allowed under federal racketeering laws.

But Tatel said a statement in the ads that the companies intentionally designed cigarettes with enough nicotine “to create and sustain addiction” was within the bounds of the law. The appeals court also approved a statement that the companies “in- tentionally designed cigarettes to make them more addictive.”

The companies in the case include Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc., owner of the biggest U.S. tobacco company, Philip Morris USA; No. 2 cigarette maker, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., owned by Winston-Salem, N.C.based Reynolds American Inc.; and No. 3 cigarette maker Lorillard Inc., based in Greensboro, N.C.

In 1999, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit that alleged the tobacco companies violated racketeering laws by conspiring to deceive the public about the health consequences and addictiveness of smoking cigarettes. After hearing testimony from 162 witnesses over nine months, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler found in 2006 that the companies had engaged in a massive fraud campaign.