PHAI explores the R.J. Reynolds impact on public health, exposing harmful tobacco industry practices. Our nonprofit advocates for safer, healthier communities and educates the public about the dangers of tobacco use.
Northeastern University Distinguished Professor of Law and President of the Public Health Advocacy Institute, Richard Daynard, published an op-ed in The Hill on December 6, 2022, laying out the importance of punitive damages in civil justice to protect public health. The article references a billion-dollar punitive damages verdict in a Massachusetts tobacco case from September […]
By Edward L. Sweda, Jr. When Reynolds American International (RAI) President and CEO Susan M. Cameron told the company’s 2016 annual shareholders meeting that it is “always a pleasure to report good news,” this shareholder was reminded of a similar message: “Alive with Pleasure.” That ubiquitous advertising slogan for Newport cigarettes – which RAI acquired
A Rainy day in Winston-Salem Read More »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mark Gottlieb or Andrew Rainer 617-373-2026 “We are so pleased to be working with this outstanding group of lawyers to help some of tobacco’s victims in Massachusetts,” said Andrew Rainer, PHAI’s Litigation Director and Director of the Center for Public Health Litigation. Working together with PHAI will be: PHAI’s latest suit,
Top Boston Firms Join Forces with Public Health Advocacy Institute Read More »
By Edward L. Sweda, Jr. Like clockwork, the 2015 Reynolds American (RAI) Annual Shareholders Meeting started precisely at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday May 7, 2015 at the company’s headquarters in Winston-Salem, North Ed Sweda Carolina. Seventy-five minutes later, the meeting was adjourned. Before I could attend the meeting, I had to proceed through intense security,
By Edward Sweda As I entered the Reynolds American Corporate Offices (photo) at 401 North Main Street in Winston-Salem, North Carolina just after 8 A.M. on Thursday, May 8, the company\’s \”Welcome Shareholders\” sign was perched directly above the building\’s main entrance. Having cleared through the metal detector, I proceeded to
For seven years, cigarette companies have repeatedly claimed that the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Engle v. Liggett, which relieved about 8,000 Florida cases of the need to prove general liability or that cigarette smoking causes disease, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They repeatedly represented to industry analysts
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
Lorillard Inc., v. United States Food and Drug Administration, No. 11-440 Read More »
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
Disc. Tobacco City & Lottery, Inc. v. United States Read More »
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
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
Big Victory at Florida Supreme Court is Bad News for Cigarette Manufacturers Read More »