Judge Criticizes Cigarette Makers, Adopts New Warning Statements

By Brent Kendall 

WASHINGTON--The federal judge presiding over government litigation against tobacco companies in a Monday opinion blasted cigarette makers for continuing to fight her court order requiring them to warn the public about the dangers of smoking.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, based in Washington, adopted revised language Monday for the product warnings and rejected as "ridiculous" the latest legal arguments being made by the tobacco companies. She said the defendants were trying to further delay the resolution of a case that began in 1999.

Judge Kessler has presided over the litigation for more than 15 years.

"The court has no intention of following that path, although it is obvious that defendants are, once again, attempting to stall any final outcome to this long-standing litigation," Judge Kessler wrote in an 11-page opinion.

The judge a decade ago ruled tobacco companies violated civil racketeering law by participating in a lengthy scheme to deceive consumers about the dangers of smoking. She ordered them to issue "corrective statements" revealing the truth about their products to prevent future deception. Those statements are to appear in newspaper and television ads, as well as on the companies' websites and product packaging.

Altria Group Inc., its Philip Morris USA subsidiary, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. have continued to battle with government lawyers and antismoking advocates over the content of the statements.

A federal appeals court last year found fault with part of the language Judge Kessler adopted for the product warnings. That court said the judge could require cigarette makers to say they intentionally designed cigarettes to sustain addiction but couldn't force them to say they deliberately deceived the public.

Judge Kessler on Monday said the warnings could be revised fairly simply to conform to the appeals court's requirements. She criticized the tobacco companies for seeking a wholesale rewrite of the warnings. "That is ridiculous--a waste of precious time, energy and money for all concerned--and a loss of information for the public," the judge wrote.

The cigarette makers could appeal again.

Altria and Reynolds declined to comment.

Tripp Mickle contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 09, 2016 14:22 ET (19:22 GMT)

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