Summer Break – The Rest of the Story Will Return on Monday, July 5
I wish all my readers a happy July 4th holiday.
Judge Allows Class Action Suit to Require Philip Morris to Pay for CT Scans for Smokers
A Massachusetts judge has ruled that an unusual class action lawsuit against Philip Morris may proceed . The judge’s ruling certified the class, but it does not relate to whether the legal basis for the suit is sound. The ruling means that the judge has found that the legal issues involved are common to all plaintiffs, and thus the case can proceed as a class action suit.
FDA Commissioner Falsely Asserts that Flavored Cigarettes are a Gateway for Teen Smoking; Representative Waxman Also Makes the Same False Claim
According to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, candy-flavored cigarettes are a major gateway to youth smoking and the federal ban on flavored cigarettes will therefore reduce the number of youth smokers. In a press release issued by FDA last September – when the flavored cigarette ban went into effect – Hamburg stated: “Almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers
Tobacco Companies are in Compliance with Law; Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Has No One to Blame But Itself
Instead of whining about the tobacco companies evading the FDA tobacco law by using colors to denote the brands formerly known as “lights” or “milds,” the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids should be apologizing to its constituents and to the public for knowingly crafting legislation that would not accomplish its declared purpose. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, along with the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and American Cancer Society have pulled one over on the American people by declaring that the legislation that the Campaign crafted in negotiations with Philip Morris would put an end to descriptors relating to “light” or “mild” cigarettes.
