A Vermont judge ruled Wednesday that the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company made false advertising claims about its smokeless Eclipse cigarette. The company advertised the cigarette, which does not burn tobacco but heats it, as potentially having fewer health risks than traditional cigarettes.
The Vermont Attorney General filed the suit in 2005. Judge Dennis Pearson said the marketing violated the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement that governs cigarette advertising, the Winston Salem Journal reported.
Pearson ruled that the cigarette company didn’t have the scientific evidence to support its health-risk claims. Still, Pearson said in his ruling he found no “bad intent” behind R.J. Reynolds’ misleading claims.
Although Reynolds’ marketing of the Eclipse cigarette was ultimately misleading and deceptive because the support relied on was scientifically and medically insufficient, there was no bad intent,” Pearson wrote. “In fact, a deliberate, indeed considerable effort to develop and sell a tobacco product which might potentially do some good for some smokers, and more likely than not, do no additional or different harm.”
The judge will determine what amount, if any, the company will pay at a later date. The company told the Winston Salem Journal it will consider an appeal.
More coverage at the Wall Street Journal. Read the court decision here.
[...] Tobacco Company made false advertising claims about its smokeless Eclipse cigarette. … http://www.fairwarning.org/…/judge-rj-reynolds-made-false-claims-about-smokeless- cigarette/ Judge: RJ Reynolds Made False Claims About Smokeless Cigarette …unratedadmin2010-04-01 [...]