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Excerpts from: Tobacco Giant Faces Fraud Suit in Georgia

By Trisha Renaud Law.com via Yahoo! [04/17/03]

Still reeling from a massive $10.1-billion fraud judgment last month in Illinois, cigarette maker Philip Morris Inc. now faces a similar suit in Georgia's Fulton State Court.

Taking a cue from a Madison County, Ill., judge's finding that the company deceived smokers into believing that light cigarettes were safer than other brands, the Atlanta firm of Chitwood & Harley sued New York-headquartered Philip Morris last week.

The Fulton suit alleges that the company "intentionally and falsely conveyed a clear message to consumers that 'Light,' 'Ultra-light' and 'low-tar' cigarettes posed a decreased health risk" when they actually deliver higher tar and nicotine levels than their regular counterparts. . .

Plaintiffs' lawyers Chitwood, Craig G. Harley and William T. Lacy Jr. attached the Illinois judge's 51-page order to their complaint. In that order, Byron found that Philip Morris intentionally marketed Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights as less harmful products than regular cigarettes, as "health reassurance cigarettes in that they expressly and impliedly conveyed the notion of a positive health attribute" through the use of the terms light and lowered tar. The evidence, however, established that the cigarette maker knew they were just as dangerous, if not more so, the judge concluded. . .

Philip Morris' Web site now says that it does not imply in its marketing and smokers should not assume that light brands are safe or safer than full-flavor brands. The Web site also advises consumers to read a 2001 National Cancer Institute report that found that such brands do not lower the health risks of smoking.