Tobacco firms colluded to hide smoking risks, US lawyers say
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WASHINGTON -- Tobacco companies, desperate to maintain their hold on tens of millions of American smokers, worked together for decades to deceive the public about the dangers of cigarettes and to encourage the young to start puffing, government lawyers said yesterday at the start of a racketeering trial.
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Tobacco industry lawyers  acknowledged in federal court on Wednesday that some companies  may have done some things wrong in the past, but they denied  government allegations the industry engaged in a conspiracy to  mislead the public about the dangers of smoking.
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A federal judge says the nation's top cigarette makers conspired for decades to mislead the public about the health hazards and addictive nature of smoking, but she says there's not much she can do to make them pay.
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The US Supreme Court said Friday it would consider whether smokers of cigarettes marketed as "light" could sue the makers for deception on the grounds that they were just as harmful as regular smokes.
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Asserting that tobacco companies purposely misled consumers, plaintiffs are asking for $20 billion to $200 billion in damages.
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A lab owned by US tobacco giant Philip Morris uncovered evidence in the early 1980s about potential risks from passive smoking but its findings were never made public, a new study says.
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A $200 billion U.S. lawsuit filed by   "light" cigarette smokers gained class action status on Monday,   hammering shares of U.S. tobacco companies.
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On Sept. 21 a landmark trial will begin. At stake is no less than $280 billion in what the feds claim is ill-gotten profits. As an industry, tobacco is no stranger to the courts.
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WASHINGTON  - Major cigarette makers go on trial on Tuesday in the U.S. government's $280 billion racketeering case that charges the tobacco industry with deliberately deceiving the public about the risks of smoking since the 1950s.
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Cigarette makers have revved up  price promotions in recent years, a strategy they know will  lead to more underage smoking, an economist testifying in the  U.S. government's racketeering trial against the industry said  on Wednesday.
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PARIS  - A lab owned by US tobacco giant Philip Morris uncovered evidence in the early 1980s about potential risks from passive smoking but its findings were never made public, a study charges.
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New York and Connecticut officials say they are investigating whether improper behavior by insurance firms has been a factor in the rapidly rising cost of malpractice insurance for lawyers and doctors.
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Experts say the move could lead to suits against the U.S. or private companies.
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By MICHAEL GORMLEY  ALBANY, N.Y. - More than a dozen states sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to lower soot levels from smokestacks and exhaust pipes, a move the state officials argue would save thousands of lives.
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A Michigan company's decision to dismiss workers who smoke, even if it's on their own time, has privacy and workers' rights advocates alarmed and is raising concerns about whether pizza boxes and six packs are the next to go.
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A lawyer for the tobacco industry  told a federal court on Wednesday that cigarette companies have  never engaged in a conspiracy to mislead the public about the  dangers of smoking.
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A tobacco firm has said allegations it covered up evidence of the harmful effects of passive smoking are &quot;false, inaccurate and highly misleading&quot;.