campaign for tobacco-free kids (en) - department of justice ......trial lasts from september 2004 to...

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids www.tobaccofreekids.org

DepartmentofJusticeRacketeeringCase:TobaccoCos.OrderedtoPublish

CorrectiveStatements

November17,2017


Overview

• ShortHistoryofU.S.vs.PhilipMorris• Court’sFindingsandOrder• TheCorrectiveStatements• Detailsofrunningcorrectivestatements• Howpublichealthadvocatescanmakethemostofthestatements

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TimelineofEvents

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1999 2004 2005 2006 2009 2010 2017

U.S.DOJsuesmajorcigarettemanufacturers.

JudgeGladysKesslergrantsintervenorstatustopublichealthgroups.

CourtofAppealsupholdsJudge

Kessler’sfindingsand

mostremedies.

MajorU.S.tobaccocompaniesbegintoruncorrectivestatementsin

newspapersandonTV.

August17,2006:JudgeKessler

issuesher1,683-pageOpinion.

TriallastsfromSeptember2004toJune2005.

Tobaccocompaniesfilenumerousappealsoncorrectivestatementsanduseothertacticstodelayimplementation.


ThePublicHealthIntervenors

• AmericanCancerSociety• AmericanHeartAssociation• AmericanLungAssociation• AmericansforNonsmokersRights• NationalAfricanAmericanTobaccoPreventionNetwork

• Tobacco-FreeKidsActionFund(affiliateofCampaignforTobacco-FreeKids)

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Minneapolis-St.PaulStarTribune,June24,2001


WhyIntervention?

• PoliticalinterferencebyBushAdministration• ConcernsDOJwillnotseekstrongremedies• JudgeKesslerfindsintervenorshaveaprotectedinterestinscopeofremediesand“thefederalgovernmentnolongeradequatelyrepresentsthoseinterests.”

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Big Tobacco Lied to Public, Judge SaysIndustry Avoids Huge Penalties but Is Ordered to Correct False Advertising August 18, 2006 – Henri E. Cauvin and Rob Stein

A federal judge ruled yesterday that tobacco companies have violated civil racketeering laws, concluding that cigarette makers conspired for decades to deceive the public about the dangers of their product and ordering the companies to make landmark changes in the way cigarettes are marketed. But U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said that under a 2005 appellate court ruling, she could not impose billions of dollars in penalties that had been sought by the Justice Department in its civil racketeering suit against the eight defendant tobacco companies.

All she could do, she said, was try to deter future illegal acts by the companies, and to that end, she ordered them to stop using terms such as "low tar," "light" and "mild" and to undertake a massive media campaign in an effort to correct years of misrepresentations.

It is a penalty that will cost the industry millions of dollars -- a fraction of the cost of sanctions the companies faced at the outset of the case, when the Justice Department sought $280 billion from the industry.

In the opinion, which runs 1,742 pages and was more than a year in the drafting, Kessler wrote that there is "overwhelming evidence" of most of the charges leveled at the industry -- that it conspired to violate, and indeed violated, federal racketeering laws.


JudgeKessler’sOpinion:August17,2006

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“(Thiscase)isaboutanindustry,andinparticulartheseDefendants,thatsurvives,andprofits,fromsellingahighlyaddictiveproductwhichcausesdiseasesthatleadtoastaggeringnumberofdeathsperyear,animmeasurableamountofhumansufferingandeconomicloss,andaprofoundburdenonournationalhealthcaresystem.Defendantshaveknownthesefactsforatleast50yearsormore.Despitethatknowledge,theyhaveconsistently,repeatedly,andwithenormousskillandsophistication,deniedthesefactstothepublic,totheGovernment,andtothepublichealthcommunity...Inshort,Defendantshavemarketedandsoldtheirlethalproductswithzeal,withdeception,withasingle-mindedfocusontheirfinancialsuccess,andwithoutregardforthehumantragedyorsocialcoststhatsuccessexacted.”


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http://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/sites/default/files/resources/tclc-verdict-

is-in.pdf

http://tfk.org/tobaccoracketeers


TheCorrectiveStatementsRemedy

Defendantsorderedtomakecorrectivestatementaboutfivetopicsthatweresubjectsofdefendants’fraud:• Adversehealtheffectsofsmoking• Addictivenessofsmokingandnicotine• Lackofsignificanthealthbenefitfromsmoking“lowtar,”

“light,”“ultralight,”“mild,”and“natural”cigarettes• Manipulationofcigarettedesigntoensureoptimumnicotine

delivery• Adversehealtheffectsofexposuretosecondhandsmoke

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CorrectiveStatementsDissemination

• Television• Newspapers• Defendants’corporatewebsites• Cigarettepackonserts• Pointofsale– stillsubjectoflitigation

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Detailsstillbeingfinalized

StartNovember26


CorrectiveStatements:TheLegalIssues

• Defendantschallengedcourt’sauthoritytoordercorrectivestatementsunderRICOstatuteandasFirstAmendmentviolation

• 2009D.C.CircuitrulingupholdscorrectivestatementsremedyunderRICO– RICOgivesfederalcourtsauthorityto“preventandrestrain

violationsofRICO....”– Courtheldrequiringdefendantstocommunicatetruthabout

theirproductswoulddetercontinuedfalseandmisleadingclaims;will“preventandrestrain”themfromfutureRICOviolations.

– CourtrejectedFirstAmendmentchallenge:correctivestatementswouldnotinfringefreespeechrightsofcompaniesifconfinedto“purelyfactualanduncontroversialinformation.”

• However,rulingdidnotaddressspecificcorrectivestatements.

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CorrectiveStatements:Version#1

AFederalCourthasruledthatAltria,R.J.ReynoldsTobacco,Lorillard,andPhilipMorrisUSAdeliberatelydeceivedtheAmericanpublicaboutthehealtheffectsofsmoking,andhasorderedthosecompaniestomakethisstatement.

Hereisthetruth:

• Smokingkills,onaverage,1200Americans.Everyday.• Morepeopledieeveryyearfromsmokingthanfrommurder,AIDS,

suicide,drugs,carcrashes,andalcohol,combined.• Smokingcausesheartdisease,emphysema,acutemyeloidleukemia,and

cancerofthemouth,esophagus,larynx,lung,stomach,kidney,bladder,andpancreas.

• Smokingalsocausesreducedfertility,lowbirthweightinnewborns,andcancerofthecervix.

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CorrectiveStatements:Version#1(withchangesafterappeals)

AFederalCourthasruledthatordered Altria,R.J.ReynoldsTobacco,Lorillard,andPhilipMorrisUSAdeliberatelydeceivedtheAmericanpublicaboutthehealtheffectsofsmoking,andhasorderedthosecompaniestomakethisstatementaboutthehealtheffectsofsmoking.Hereisthetruth:





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CorrectiveStatements:FinalVersion

AFederalCourthasorderedAltria,R.J.ReynoldsTobacco,Lorillard,andPhilipMorrisUSAtomakethisstatementaboutthehealtheffectsofsmoking.





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CorrectiveStatements:11YearsofAppeals

• Tobaccocompaniesfiledatleast4appealsofcorrectivestatements.

• February2016:JudgeKesslercalledcompanies’litigationtactics“ridiculous– awasteoftime,energyandmoneyforallconcerned– andalossofinformationforthepublic.”

• October2017:Appealscometoanend,andjudgeissuesfinalimplementationorderfornewspapersandtelevision.

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SummaryofCourt-OrderedCorrectiveStatementsRemedy:UnitedStatesv.PhilipMorrisUSAInc.

Television: Tobaccocompaniesmustpurchaseadswithtextandvoice-overcontainingoneofthefivecorrectivestatementsthatmust:• Runfivetimesperweekforoneyear (52weeks)fora

totalof260spots.• RunMon.-Thurs.between7:00p.m.and10:00p.m.on

oneofthethreemajornetworks(CBS,ABCorNBC).• Fouroftheadsare45-secondspotsandoneisa30-

secondspot.• BegintoairtheweekofNovember26,2017.

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SummaryofCourt-OrderedCorrectiveStatementsRemedy:UnitedStatesv.PhilipMorrisUSAInc.

Newspapers: Tobaccocompaniesmustpurchasefivefull-pageadsinthefirstsectionoftheSundayeditionof50+newspapersspecifiedbythecourt.Eachnewspaperadwillcontainoneofthefivecorrectivestatementsaccordingtothefollowingschedule:• November26,2017– AdverseHealthEffectsofSmoking

• December10,2017 – AddictivenessofSmokingandNicotine

• January7,2018 – LackofSignificantHealthBenefitfromSmoking“LowTar,”“Light,”“UltraLight,”“Mild,”and“Natural”Cigarettes

• February4,2018 – ManipulationofCigaretteDesignandCompositiontoEnsureOptimumNicotineDelivery

• March4,2018 – AdverseHealthEffectsofExposuretoSecondhandSmoke

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November26,2017– AdverseHealthEffectsofSmoking


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December10,2017 –AddictivenessofSmokingandNicotine


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January7,2018 – LackofSignificantHealthBenefitfromSmoking“LowTar,”“Light,”“UltraLight,”“Mild,”and“Natural”Cigarettes


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February4,2018 –ManipulationofCigaretteDesignandCompositiontoEnsureOptimumNicotineDelivery


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March4,2018 – AdverseHealthEffectsofExposuretoSecondhandSmoke


DefendantsHaven’tChanged

• Stillmarketingthemostpopularbrandstoyouth• Stillfightingprovenpoliciestoreducetobaccouse• Stilldisingenuouslyclaimingtobe“transformedcompanies”

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“TheevidenceinthiscaseclearlyestablishesthatDefendantshavenotceasedengaginginunlawfulactivity.”


TobaccoCompanies’StatementsonCorrectiveStatements

Thisindustryhaschangeddramaticallyoverthelasttwentyyears,includingbecomingregulatedbythe FDA,whichwesupported.We’refocusedonthefutureand,with FDA inplace,workingtodeveloplessriskytobaccoproducts.

Aspartoftheinjunction,thecourtorderedthedefendantstomakecertain“correctivestatements”relatedtoissuesraisedinthelitigation.Since2006,thepartieshavevigorouslylitigatedaspectsoftheinjunction,includingthecontentofthecorrectivestatements.

CompaniesLooktotheFutureasLong-RunningFederalLawsuitNearsEnd

Thetobaccoindustrytodayisverydifferentthanitwaswhenthislawsuitwasfiledin1999.Morethanadecadeago,ReynoldsAmericananditsoperatingcompaniesbeganajourneytotransformthetobaccoindustry.Today,theindustryisworkingwiththeFDA,otherregulatorsandsomeinthepublichealthcommunitymorethaneverbeforetocreatearegulatedmarketplacethatencouragesinnovationwhilereducingtheharmfromsmoking.


AmplifyingtheCorrectiveStatements:Goals

• Expandreachofthecorrectivestatementsthemselves

• Tellpublic,policymakers,mediaandotheraudienceswhytobaccocompaniesmustmakethestatements:Afederalcourtfoundthemguiltyofracketeering,fraud,conspiracy,deceptionandlies

• Countertobaccocompanies’claimstheyhavechanged

• Usethecorrectivestatementstomakethecaseforpolicygoals

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AmplifyingtheCorrectiveStatements:KeyMessages

• Tobaccocompaniesaren’tmakingthesestatementsvoluntarilyorbecauseofasettlement.Afederalcourtorderedthemtodosoafterfindingtheyviolatedracketeeringlawsandengagedinadecades-longconspiracytodeceiveanddefraudtheAmericanpublic.

• Tobaccocompanieshaven’tchangedandremainthemaincauseoftheproblem.Theystillmarkettokids,fightprovenpolicies,falselyportraythemselvesaspartofthesolution.

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AmplifyingtheCorrectiveStatements:KeyMessages

• Tobaccocompaniesfoughtfor11yearstoblock,delayandweakenthecorrectivestatements.Thatshowshowlittletheyhavechanged.

• Weneedmorethancorrectivestatements.Wealsoneedstrongcorrectiveactiontowinthefightagainsttobacco,whichisstillthe#1causeofpreventabledeath(tobaccotaxincreases,smoke-freelaws,tobacco21,etc.)

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AmplifyingtheCorrectiveStatements:EarnedMedia

• Issuepressreleaseusingcorrectivestatementsashooktohighlightstate/localpolicygoal(s)

• Tobacco-FreeKidswillprovidetemplate(swiss-cheese)pressrelease

• Submitop-edorletter-to-the-editor

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AmplifyingtheCorrectiveStatements:SocialMedia

• ShareTVadsofcorrectivestatementonyourFacebook,Twitterandothersocialmediachannels(Tobacco-FreeKidswillpostadsonYouTubeonNov.27)

• Sharesocialmediagraphics:findshareablegraphicsathttp://www.tfk.org/corrective-resources

• Usehashtag#TobaccoRacketeers

• Reachouttopolicymakersandurgethemtosharethecorrectivestatementadsorsocialgraphics

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32http://www.tfk.org/corrective-resources


36https://tfk.org/tobaccoracketeers

campaign for tobacco-free kids (en) - department of justice ......trial lasts from september 2004 to...

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