| COMMUNITY |
| Message Boards Chat Feedback |
| SITE SOURCES |
| Contents Help! Search CNN Networks |
| SPECIALS |
| Quick News Almanac Video Vault News Quiz |
|
| S P E C I A L | Tobacco Under Attack |
Lawsuit: Tobacco company blew smoke with "low tar" labels
March 3, 1998
Web posted at: 9:49 p.m. EST (0249 GMT)PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A smoker with lung cancer filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company, charging that cigarettes advertised as low in tar and nicotine are a "major fraud" and are just as deadly as other cigarettes.
Lawyer Steven Sheller -- representing a woman who smokes Vantage cigarettes and has been diagnosed with lung cancer -- said the lawsuit is the first of its kind and is based on Pennsylvania's Deceptive Trade Practices law.
The suit -- which includes an estimated half-million Pennsylvanians -- seeks damages equal to three times the amount each smoker has spent on the Reynolds products. The average smoker could win about $15,000, Sheller said.
People were deceived into smoking the "low tar and nicotine" cigarettes by the implication that they were healthier, when they were not, Sheller said.
"So-called 'ultralight' and 'light' cigarettes are all a major fraud," he said. "There is no such thing." Cigarettes advertised as "low in tar and nicotine" are "no different from cigarettes made in the 1950's," he said.
|
|
Related stories:
- Tobacco industry documents to be put on Internet Friday - February 26, 1998
- Utah residents sue tobacco companies - February 16, 1998
- Judge sets ground rules as tobacco trial begins - January 26, 1998
- Texas' reaches $15.3 billion settlement with tobacco industry - January 16, 1998
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser windowExternal sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
|
Sound off on our message boards & chat |
|
© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.