The Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA)
hailed yesterday's court decision in United States v. Philip Morris USA,
Inc. After a lengthy trial, a federal court in Washington, DC found that
major tobacco companies engaged in racketeering and conspiracy for decades
in a massive scheme to addict people to smoking "without regard for the
human tragedy or social costs" that resulted.
Laurie Fenton, president of Lung Cancer Alliance, hailed the court's
decision as, "An important step toward correcting decades of stigmatization
of lung cancer patients as not worthy of compassion, and the deliberate
underfunding of the disease of lung cancer as not deserving of public
health research dollars."
"For years, the public health establishment has justified its
underfunding of lung cancer research and early detection on the willful
behavior of smokers," continued Fenton. "Now we have the DC District Court
recognizing that, for 50 years, the tobacco companies lied, misrepresented
and deceived the American public, including smokers, and the young people
they avidly sought as 'replacement smokers.'"
While the court's ruling placed new marketing restrictions on tobacco
companies, the court read a previous appellate court decision to rule out
stiff monetary remedies.
Said Fenton: "We urge the federal government to appeal on the scope of
remedies available under the RICO statute, all the way to the Supreme Court
if necessary, to make these companies accountable for the tragic results of
their deliberate, decades-long conspiracy to deceive the public about these
lethal products."
The Lung Cancer Alliance ( LungCancerAlliance) is the
only national organization dedicated solely to patient support and advocacy
for lung cancer patients, their caregivers and those at risk for the
disease.
Lung Cancer Alliance
LungCancerAlliance