tobacco companies

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Big Tobacco Made Junk Food Addictive, Too
Big Tobacco Made
Junk Food Addictive, Too
new study
Sep 24, 2023 8:10 AM CDT

Big Tobacco Made Junk Food Addictive, Too

Study says food brands owned by tobacco companies were made to hook us

(Newser) - We've long known why junk foods are addictive (hello, sugar, salt, and fat), but researchers are now saying that big tobacco companies were behind strategically filling grocery store shelves with highly processed products when they owned food brands like Kraft and Nabisco. And importantly, they may have manufactured junk...

Tobacco Giant to Pay US $635M for Violating N. Korea Sanctions

British American Tobacco admits that subsidiary conspired to bust sanctions

(Newser) - The world's second-largest tobacco company has agreed to cough up $635 million plus interest to American authorities to settle a North Korea sanctions-busting case. British American Tobacco admitted that a subsidiary conspired to violate US sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea between 2007 and 2017, the BBC...

Health Groups on Philip Morris Move: 'Reprehensible'

Big Tobacco giant has scooped up UK pharma company Vectura, which makes asthma inhalers

(Newser) - If it seems odd to you that a Big Tobacco giant would be getting into the asthma inhaler business, you're not the only one. NPR notes that "health groups are suspicious" after it was announced Thursday that Philip Morris International has become the majority stakeholder of Vectura, a...

Feds Consider Mandating Nonaddictive Cigarettes

Or, possibly, minimally addictive

(Newser) - Nonaddictive cigarettes could soon be a thing—a mandatory thing. The Biden administration is considering mandating that cigarettes contain nonaddictive or minimally addictive levels of nicotine, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . The move comes as the Food and Drug Administration is deciding on whether to ban menthol cigarettes; it...

FDA Is Moving Ahead to Outlaw Menthol Cigarettes

But the agency pulled back on anticipated e-cigarette restrictions

(Newser) - Flavored e-cigarettes are getting a bit of a reprieve from the FDA, which has threatened to ban them to combat youth vaping. But, the New York Times reports, the agency will push forward with plans to outlaw menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, “two traditional tobacco products that disproportionately harm...

CDC Chief Resigns After Tobacco Revelations
CDC Chief Resigns
After Tobacco Revelations
the rundown
Jan 31, 2018 1:47 PM CST

CDC Chief Resigns After Tobacco Revelations

Brenda Fitzgerald bought stock in tobacco company after assuming post at health agency

(Newser) - The CDC will be needing a new leader. Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald resigned on Wednesday as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after some dicey financial conflicts came to light. The big one: Fitzgerald bought stock in a major tobacco company just a month after assuming her position...

Boehner's New Gig: Tobacco Company Board Member

He's elected to the Reynolds American board, will start immediately

(Newser) - John Boehner, who in addition to being a well-known crier is also a well-known smoker, has been elected to the board of tobacco company Reynolds American Inc., Reynolds announced in a statement Thursday. Reynolds owns the Newport brand of cigarettes as well as Camel, Boehner's preferred brand. (As Bloomberg...

$27B Tobacco Merger Creates Cigarette 'Duopoly'

Reynolds, Lorillard to merge

(Newser) - Reynolds American, the maker of Camel and Pall Mall cigarettes, has agreed to buy Lorillard, the maker of Newport menthols, in a deal that will make it a strong second to Marlboro manufacturer Altria in the US tobacco market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Reynolds will pay a combination of...

15 Years on, Cash From Tobacco Suit Is Elusive

Little has been spent on anti-smoking efforts

(Newser) - Some 15 years after tobacco companies agreed to cough up billions of dollars in fines to settle health-care lawsuits nationwide, the details on how state governments have used the cash are pretty hazy, NPR finds. More than $100 billion has been paid out so far, with more than $100 billion...

Why Big Tobacco Is Getting Hooked on E-Cigs

No big state taxes means no black market

(Newser) - The American e-cigarette business is booming: It's expected to make more than $1 billion this year, and sales are projected to overtake those of real cigarettes by 2047. Big tobacco is probably fine with this, reports BusinessWeek , and the reason why is surprising. According to a recent report, an...

Judge Orders Tobacco Firms to Admit They Lied

Companies will have to pay for ads to that effect

(Newser) - A federal judge today ordered tobacco companies to publish corrective statements that say they lied about the dangers of smoking. US District Judge Gladys Kessler previously had said she wanted the industry to pay for the statements in various types of advertisements, the result of a case brought in 1999....

Marlboro Maker Targets China's Vaccine Market

Philip Morris trying to move beyond cigarettes

(Newser) - Marlboro maker Philip Morris only has a tiny sliver of China's gargantuan cigarette market, but it is determined to do business in the country, even if that means moving beyond traditional cigarettes, the Wall Street Journal reports. China's state-owned tobacco firm has a virtual monopoly on cigarettes sales,...

Aussie Cigarette Packaging to Turn Generic, Gross
Aussie Cigarette Packaging
to Turn Generic, Gross
court ruling
Aug 15, 2012 5:55 AM CDT

Aussie Cigarette Packaging to Turn Generic, Gross

Ruling a major defeat for tobacco firms

(Newser) - Australia's first-of-its-kind generic cigarette packaging law has been upheld by the country's highest court in a huge defeat for tobacco companies. Today's decision means that starting Dec. 1, cigarettes will all come in olive green packages dominated by graphic health warnings with images like blinded eyeballs and...

Tobacco Giants Pummel Plan to Tax Cali Cigarettes

Proposition 29 vote up in the air before Tuesday vote

(Newser) - The battle over a proposed cigarette tax has turned surprisingly fierce in California, a state that once led the anti-smoking crusade, the New York Times reports. Proponents of the $1-a-pack plan, called Proposition 29, say it will raise about $735 million for cancer research. But $47 million in advertisements (mostly...

Judge: Graphic Smoking Images Are Unconstitutional

Big Tobacco wins a round in court over proposed warnings

(Newser) - Tobacco companies can't be forced to put ultra-graphic images on cigarette packages and advertising to scare away smokers, a federal judge ruled today. The FDA requirement, which was supposed to go into effect later this year, violates the companies' free-speech rights, declared US District Judge Richard Leon in Washington,...

Judge Blocks Gruesome Cigarette Labels

Big Tobacco was likely to win First Amendment complaint

(Newser) - Wheeze out a sigh of relief, smokers of America: You won't have to look at a blackened lung or rotting teeth when you buy a pack of smokes next year after all. US District Judge Richard Leon blocked the new labels today, ruling that tobacco companies were likely to...

Tobacco Firms Knew of Radiation in Cigs—in 1959

They studied polonium and its link to cancer in the 1960s

(Newser) - Tobacco companies were well aware that their products contained radiation—and they discovered this decades ago, UCLA researchers studying 27 historical documents have found. The firms learned of the presence of polonium-210 in cigarettes in 1959, and they examined the radioactive material's effects during the 1960s, documents show. They...

Tobacco Giants Sue Over Gross Labels

They argue that FDA's warnings violate their first amendment rights

(Newser) - Five major cigarette makers have filed a lawsuit against the FDA, claiming that its graphic new warning labels violate their First Amendment rights. “The government can require warnings which are straightforward and essentially uncontroversial,” a lawyer for the companies explained in a statement, “but they can't...

Big Tobacco Beats Hospital Lawsuit
Big Tobacco Beats
Hospital Lawsuit
Apr 30, 2011 7:30 AM CDT

Big Tobacco Beats Hospital Lawsuit

Landmark Missouri suit fails

(Newser) - It was a "case of David versus Goliath," as hospitals took on tobacco companies in Missouri, a hospital lawyer says—and Goliath won. A jury decided yesterday that tobacco companies aren't liable for money spent on patients with tobacco-related illnesses who can't pay their bills, reports...

Australia's Anti-Smoking Idea: Very Boring Packages

Proposed legislation would ban logos, colors

(Newser) - Australia is pushing for a new tool in its quest to cut smoking rates: really boring cigarette packages. The government has announced legislation that would ban logos, colors, brand imagery, and promotional text, while mandating that all packages be olive green—determined in studies to be the least appealing color....

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