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Defective Product Liability
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5/12/2006 7:36:00 AM | BC court allows tobacco lawsuit to go ahead 
=(0) A class action lawsuit in Canada against Imperial Tobacco may proceed, according to an Appeal Court in British Columbia. The suit alleges deceptive marketing which implied that light or mild cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes. The class was narrowed somewhat, to include only people who purchased this type of cigarette after May...
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5/11/2006 11:53:00 AM | FDA Approves New Anti-Smoking Pill =(0) Pfizer's new stop-smoking pill, Chantix, has been approved by the FDA and is set to hit the market later this year. It is nicotine-free, and works by reducing withdrawal symptoms and reducing the pleasure of smoking. European studies have shown it helps smokers stop in one out of five cases....
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5/9/2006 3:02:00 AM | RJ Reynolds to Settle State Lawsuit for $5 Million =(0) A lawsuit that has been dragging on since 1999 was finally settled by the State of California and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. The State sued after RJ Reynolds gave away free cigarettes at public events, which is against the law in California. One-fifth of the $5 million settlement will go to the Public Health Institute, to fund anti-smoking p...
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4/23/2006 12:13:00 AM | Tennessee receives annual payment in tobacco settlement =(0) Philip Morris has completed its tobacco settlement payments to individual States for this year. Some other companies including RJ Reynolds and Lorillard Tobacco, are trying to have the payments reduced because of lower sales, but some states are suing for their full payments. The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was signed in 1998.......
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4/4/2006 11:06:00 AM | Many Complex Linkages Between Smoking and Cancer =(0) This article describes four recent studies that try to shed some light on the association between smoking and cancer: The studies suggest that: 1. A protein has been found whose blood levels are highest in non-smokers and lowest in smokers; but it was also established that in those who stop smoking, the blood levels increase again. It is thought to...
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3/29/2006 1:21:00 AM | Decision on tobacco funds clouds budget =(0) Rhode Island is among the states whose budgets may be affected by fallout from the 1998 settlement between 46 states and the major US tobacco companies. The companies may be allowed to withhold about one-fifth of the health care payments they are scheduled to remit to the states in April because of falling market share compared to companies who are...
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3/28/2006 8:34:00 PM | Fitch Comments on Independent Tobacco Arbiter Ruling =(0) Ratings on US Tobacco Settlement bonds could be affected by the arbitrator's ruling allowing the tobacco companies in question to cut this year's payment to the states that signed the agreement. Payment is due on April 17....
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3/28/2006 8:33:00 PM | Stop using stars to sell junk food to youngsters, say regulators =(0) U.K. regulators announced proposed changes to advertising regulations aimed at lessening the appeal of junk food to children. It included banning the use of licensed characters but not characters belonging to the company itself; thus Ronald McDonald is okay but Shrek is not. It would also stop suggestions that children ask their parents for product...
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3/28/2006 1:12:00 PM | Tobacco groups win ruling over $6.5bn settlement =(0) An arbitrator's ruling went in favour of major tobacco companies, allowing them to cut over $1 billion from the $6.5 billion due to 46 states in April. The ruling is based on the decline in cigarette sales overall, and over and above that, the decline in market share of these major companies compared to small companies that are not part of the 1998...
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3/28/2006 10:52:00 AM | Philip Morris, Reynolds Win Arbiter's Tobacco Ruling =(0) Philip Morris USA was among the tobacco companies that could benefit from an arbitrator's ruling which says that restrictions on advertising have contributed to the significant decline in their market share of sales. This paves the way for the companies to cut their payment to the states under the 1998 tobacco settlement. However the states still n...
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3/28/2006 3:15:00 AM | Are low-nicotine cigarettes safe? =(0) A study of how consumers interpret advertising for a new low-nicotine cigarette reveals that almost half made false assumptions about the overall safety of the product. Nicotine is not the only harmful component of cigarette smoke, and thus the cigarette is still dangerous. The study suggests the need for public education campaigns....
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3/27/2006 3:43:00 PM | Tobacco Settlement Funds Diverted =(0) The Missouri State auditor has found that much of the money the state collected from tobacco companies from the 1998 tobacco settlement has not gone to health care or smoking prevention programs as intended. The money has instead gone into the General Fund and moreover that fees were charged to the fund to make these inappropriate transfers....
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3/27/2006 11:45:00 AM | Illinois top court undecided on Altria rehearing =(0) The Illinois Supreme Court has yet to decide if it will re-hear a case against Philip Morris USA. The court had thrown out the $10 billion verdict against the cigarette maker and plaintiffs are requesting the case be re-heard. At issue is whether Philip Morris is liable for misleading consumers about the safety of "light" cigarettes....
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3/27/2006 5:29:00 AM | Appleton referendum: A secondhand smoking gun? =(0) Appleton Wisconsin is at the center of a heated debate about the true risks of secondhand smoke. A workplace smoking ban went into effect there last summer, and efforts are now underway to repeal part of that ban. It is mostly restaurant and bar owners who deny that secondhand smoke is as dangerous as health officials portray. American Cancer Socie...
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3/27/2006 4:39:00 AM | Trouble now, trouble later, for Big Tobacco =(0) This opinion piece takes note of how cigarette sales worldwide have increased, despite the U.S. trend towards less tobacco use. For instance, Philip Morris USA's parent company, Altria, has seen its sales increase by 5% over the previous year. The increase comes from developing countries and countries with quickly rising incomes such as China, whos...
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3/24/2006 12:09:00 PM | Court may say Mon. if will rehear Philip Morris case =(0) The Illinois Supreme Court has been asked to rehear a case against tobacco-maker Philip Morris U.S.A. The case concerns whether the company defrauded customers into thinking "light" cigarettes were safer than regular ones. In a lower court, plaintiffs in the class action were awarded $10 billion; but this decision was later reversed in the Illinois...
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3/22/2006 7:11:00 AM | Tobacco giant offers beer, cigarettes for signing petition =(0) Tobacco Company RJ Reynolds was criticized for its tactics to draw signatures to a petition against raising the cigarette tax in South Carolina. The company gave away free beer or cigarettes in exchange for signatures at a bar in West Columbia SC. The tax increase is intended to provide health care funding for uninsured residents. ......
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3/21/2006 7:40:00 AM | High court lets stand $50 million award to late smoker's family =(0) The US Supreme Court has let stand a $50 million judgement against Philip Morris USA. The plainiffs are the family of a cancer victim who died at 57 after being unable to stop smoking. He ultimately switched to "light" cigarettes in the belief they were safer. The Supreme Court had been asked to reconsider the amount of the judegement which had alr...
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3/21/2006 3:15:00 AM | Nonsmokers with cancer baffle experts =(0) A study shows that children exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke are more prone to a certain strain of Streptococcal bacterial infection than those not exposed. Second hand smoke is also a suspected cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, along with asbestos, air pollution, and radon exposure..........
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3/21/2006 3:03:00 AM | Widow's Legal Battle With Philip Morris Ends =(0) The widow of a longtime smoker will collect $82 million from Philip Morris USA after the US Supreme Court refused to take the case. The award consists of about $5 million in compensatory damages, $50 million in punitive damages, with the rest, interest accrued since the original judgement. The Supreme Court has also been asked to review another jud...
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