Tobacco industry guilty of fraud and racketeering, again.

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously upheld the historic decision of U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler that the tobacco industry had and continues to engage in a massive, decades long campaign to defraud the American public.

The three judge Appeals Court panel affirmed Judge Kessler’s 2006 ruling that the cigarette manufacturers engaged in a 50 year massive racketeering scheme that included falsely denying the adverse health effects of their products, falsely denying that nicotine is addictive, falsely representing that “light” and “low-tar” cigarettes present fewer health risks, falsely denying that they marketed to kids, and falsely denying that secondhand smoke causes disease.

The Court of Appeals also upheld Judge Kessler’s original findings that:
1. There is a substantial likelihood of future violations of the law by the tobacco industry
2. The tobacco companies should publish corrective statements and packet inserts on each of the topics for which they were found to have committed fraud.

Unfortunately there remains no direct financial remedy (i.e. penalty to the industry) or funding for treatment for addicted smokers who want to quit.

http://www.healthline.com/blogs/smoking_cessation/2007/02/tobacco-industry-found-guilty-of.html
(Feb, 25 2007: Tobacco companies found guilty of racketeering)