Press Release

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

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

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 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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PHAI’s Daynard Maps Bold Endgame for Smoking in United States in NY Times Op-Ed

The Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law and its President, Dick Daynard has long sought to make an impact on public health and policy by thinking outside the box. In an op-ed piece published in today’s New York Times, Daynard looks at an endgame for cigarette-caused addiction, disease and death in

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PHAI project releases White paper and policy brief addressing occupational injuries and illnesses among low-wage workers

A new white paper quantifies the numbers and costs of occupational injuries and illnesses to the U.S. low-wage workforce, and a companion policy brief explains the findings’ importance to policymakers. White Paper: Numbers and Costs of Occupational Injury and Illness in Low-Wage OccupationsPolicy Brief: Mom’s off Work ‘Cause She Got Hurt: The Economic Impact of Workplace Injuries

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US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit deals painful blow to FDA, public health and consumers

For Immediate Release Mark Gottlieb, executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston states: “Today’s ruling leaves the FDA in a very difficult position as it seeks to execute the intent of Congress which specifically called for large graphic warnings on cigarette packs.  By this Court’s logic,

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PHAI joins the Center for Digital Democracy and others in complaint to FTC over children’s websites’ “Tell-A-Friend” tactics

Today the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston has joined a coalition of children’s, health, privacy and consumer advocacy organizations in a complaint to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission against several children’s websites for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The offending children’s websites use a

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Health Groups Ask Federal Trade Commission to Investigate Merck’s Use of “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” Characters to Market Children’s Claritin®

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Cara Wilking, 617-373-5699 Today, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, joined by 10 other organizations, sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking that it investigate Merck & Co. Inc.’s  Madagascar 3-themed marketing campaign for its flagship pediatric

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PHAI’s Friedman and Gottlieb Co-author: “Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare?” in PLoS Medicine

PHAI senior staff attorney Lissy Friedman and executive director Mark Gottlieb collaborated with Lori Dorfman, Andrew Cheyne and Asiya Wadud of the Berkeley Media Studies Group to produce this article published today in PLoS Medicine. Soda companies’ PR campaigns are bad for health: Health advocates need to organize strong public health campaigns to educate the

PHAI’s Friedman and Gottlieb Co-author: “Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare?” in PLoS Medicine Read More »

Supreme Court Rejects Key Tobacco Industry Appeal Leaving “Massive Liability . . . with no End in Sight.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:  Edward L. Sweda 617-373-8462 Tobacco companies face the prospect of having to pay billions of dollars in liability to Florida smokers after the U.S. Supreme Court today denied Reynolds American’s petition for certiorari in the case of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Mathilde Martin, No. 11-754. The company had appealed a

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