Public Health Advocacy Institute

Lorillard Inc., v. United States Food and Drug Administration, No. 11-440

Tobacco /

On February 21, 2011, Lorillard Tobacco Company and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company filed a complaint[1] against the FDA in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the composition of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (“TPSAC”) and alleging that TPSAC failed to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (“FACA”). TPSAC […]

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R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Food & Drug Admin., NO. 11-5332

Tobacco /

In August, 2011, five tobacco companies[1] filed a complaint [2] against the FDA in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that certain provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (“Tobacco Act”) violated their First Amendment right to free speech.[3] The tobacco companies challenged the graphic warning requirements

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Disc. Tobacco City & Lottery, Inc. v. United States

Tobacco /

In August, 2009,  tobacco manufacturers and sellers[1] brought suit [2] in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky against the FDA, challenging provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (“Tobacco Act”). In a case previously known as Commonwealth Brands, Inc v. United States, plaintiffs challenged the following requirements

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Sottera, Inc. v. Food & Drug Admin.

Tobacco /

In April of 2009, Sottera, Inc., an importer and distributor of electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”), sought a preliminary injunction barring the FDA from denying their products entry into the United States. E-cigarettes are “battery-powered products that allow users to inhale nicotine vapor without fire, smoke, ash, or carbon monoxide.”[1] The nicotine in each e-cigarette is derived

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Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules that all cigarettes sold in Massachusetts are defective

News, Press Release, Tobacco /

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Edward L. Sweda, Jr. or  Mark Gottlieb 617-373-8462 or 617-373-2026  2010 Verdict Reflected Juror Outrage at Handouts of Free Cigarettes to Children. The SJC today unanimously rejected Lorillard Tobacco Co.’s attempt to evade liability in a case brought by Willie Evans, whose mother Marie died in 2002 at the age of 54. 

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2013 Altria Group, Inc. Annual Shareholders Meeting: Politely conducting business as usual

News, Tobacco /

By Edward L. Sweda, J.D. In sharp contrast to the manner in which management at Reynolds American, Inc. conducted its annual meeting of shareholders a week earlier,  Altria Group, Inc.’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Martin J. Barrington treated everyone at the May 16th meeting in Richmond, Virginia with courtesy and politeness. Barrington began his presentation

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The 2013 Reynolds American, Inc. Annual Shareholders Meeting: orders, points of order, “out of order” and ordered out!

News, Tobacco /

By Edward L. Sweda, J.D.                 As the hour of 9:00 A.M. approached on May 9, 2013, the date of Reynolds American, Inc.’s (RAI) Annual Shareholders Meeting in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the atmosphere seemed more contentious than in previous years.  In addition to the tight security that included

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PHAI’s Gottlieb co-authors article on strategies to reduce cancer from indoor tanning, FDA seeks stronger regulation of lamps

Deceptive Tanning Ads, Injury Reduction, Legal Filings /

An article released today in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine by Holman et al. focuses on strategies to reduce indoor tanning.  Indoor tanning with sun lamps (as opposed to spray tanning)  increases the risk of malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.  This is particularly alarming because about one-third of white women(who are

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Big Victory at Florida Supreme Court is Bad News for Cigarette Manufacturers

News, Press Release, Tobacco /

Florida smokers and their families who are suing tobacco companies won a resounding victory on March 14, 2013, when the Supreme Court of Florida upheld its landmark 2006 ruling in Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So.2d 1246 (Fla. 2006). By a vote of 6 to 1, Florida’s highest court ruled in favor of the

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PHAI Publishes Legal Issue Brief on Digital Viral Food Marketing to Kids

Food Beverage Marketing, Press Release, Publications, State Profiles /

Food companies used viral digital marketing tactics, such as “tell-a-friend” web campaigns, to induce children to share e-mail addresses of their friends and spread brand advertising of unhealthy foods among their peers.  Even very young children are targeted by these campaigns, which may be considered unfair and deceptive and in violation of state consumer protection laws.

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