The tobacco industry won’t have to include messages on their packaging indicating of them lying to American public, according to a federal court of appeals ruling in Washington, D.C.
The federal court of appeals last week ruled that tobacco firms are required to inform their consumers that cigarettes are made to be addictive. But a judge-panel allowed the tobacco industry some reprieve, indicating that companies won’t have to inform of them lying about the harmful effects of smoking.
The case began in 1999 when the federal government filed racketeering charges against numerous firms including Altria Group, Lorillard Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and Philip Morris USA. The Justice Department believed that the tobacco industry was part of a long-running conspiracy to trick consumers the harmful effects of smoking.
Back in 2006, a federal trial judge in Washington ordered the firms to eliminate ads showcasing smoking issues, from harmful smoking effects to nicotine level manipulation on their “low tar” and “light” brands.
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