United States v. Philip Morris USA Inc.: Amended Final Opinion

Section V: (C)(3), supra (public statements on nicotine manipulation); Section V(F)(7), supra (public statements on youth marketing); Section V(E)(4), supra (statements on "light" and "low tar" cigarettes). Evidence in the record also amply demonstrates that certain of Defendants' public statements communicating their positions on smoking and health issues continue to omit material information or present information in a misleading and incomplete fashion. For example, Reynolds's current website statement on the health effects of smoking continues to insist that smoking "causes disease in some individuals" only "in combination with other factors." (JD 068012); see also Schindler TT,

Section V: (C)(3), supra (public statements on nicotine manipulation); Section V(F)(7), supra (public statements on youth marketing); Section V(E)(4), supra (statements on "light" and "low tar" cigarettes). Evidence in the record also amply demonstrates that certain of Defendants' public statements communicating their positions on smoking and health issues continue to omit material information or present information in a misleading and incomplete fashion. For example, Reynolds's current website statement on the health effects of smoking continues to insist that smoking "causes disease in some individuals" only "in combination with other factors." (JD 068012); see also Schindler TT,

Defendants claim that prohibition of their deceptive use of descriptors "would improperly invade the primary jurisdiction of the FTC," JD PFOF, ch. 13 ¶ 599, but "[t]he FTC does not impose, regulate, or require [descriptors]. How those terms are applied, and on which brands, is entirely up to the tobacco companies." Henningfield WD, 56:8-11. Further, Defendants' claim reiterates their previous argument that such relief is preempted by the FTC Act, an argument which the Court has already rejected. See United States v. Philip Morris, Inc., 263 F. Supp. 2d 72, 74 (D.D.C. 2003).

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1/24/05, 10810:9-10813:5 (Reynolds' recent Chairman and CEO refusing to admit that cigarette smoking causes disease).

In addition, Philip Morris's current website claims that the company's position on addiction is the same as the public health community's, but Philip Morris's statement on addiction omits the material information that nicotine delivered by cigarettes is a drug and that it is addictive. 3000172188-2188 (JD 053199).

As the Court has noted, certain language in some of Defendants' more recent positions on smoking and health issues, following their decades of denials and distortion, do represent a step forward. See, e.g., Henningfield TT, 11/29/04, 7185:2-8. However, evidence in the record supports a finding that notwithstanding Defendants' self-serving claims that they have been more forthcoming on smoking and health issues, and notwithstanding a general prohibition in the MSA precluding those Defendants who are a party to it from making any "material misrepresentation of fact regarding the health consequences of using any Tobacco Product," Defendants continue to make affirmative statements on smoking and health issues that are fraudulent. MSA § III(r) at 36 (JD-045158). Accordingly, an injunction ordering Defendants to issue corrective statements is appropriate and necessary to prevent and restrain them from making fraudulent public statements on smoking and health matters in the future.

Contrary to Defendants' arguments, the First Amendment does not preclude corrective statements where necessary to prevent consumers from being confused or misled. Any interest Defendants have in avoiding compelled speech are easily outweighed by the government's interest in preventing future consumer deception or confusion. See Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio, 471 U.S. 626, 651 (1985) (upholding disclosure requirement in attorney advertising regarding terms of contingency agreement). In accordance with this principle, our Court of Appeals has expressly held that mandatory disclosures regarding commercial products are consistent with the First Amendment when required to correct a manufacturer's campaign of deceptive or misleading marketing or to prevent consumer confusion. See Novartis Corp. v. FTC, 223 F.3d 783, 788-89 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (holding that the trial court was permitted to enter a corrective statement remedy because it "advances precisely the 'interest involved,' namely the avoidance of misleading and deceptive advertising); Warner-Lambert Co. v. FTC, 562 F.2d 749, 769-70 (D.C. Cir. 1977).

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In Warner-Lambert, the D.C. Circuit upheld the FTC's order which required Warner-Lambert to cease and desist from representing that Listerine mouthwash prevents or alleviates the common cold, and required the company to include in future advertising the phrase "Listerine will not help prevent colds or sore throats or lessen their severity." 562 F.2d at 756. The Court rejected a First Amendment challenge to the order, finding that the protection extended to commercial speech in Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U.S. 748 (1976), which expressly permitted government regulation of false or misleading advertising, authorized an order requiring the company to make corrective statements in order to counteract its earlier, fraudulent statements. The court also upheld the FTC's position that the corrective statements were necessary because "a hundred years of false cold claims have built up a large reservoir of erroneous consumer belief which would persist, unless corrected, long after petitioner ceased making the claims." Id.

The Court explained, in language that is particularly applicable to this case, that: To be sure, current and future advertising of Listerine, when viewed in isolation, may not contain any statements which are themselves

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false or deceptive. But reality counsels that such advertisements cannot be viewed in isolation; they must be seen against the background of over 50 years in which Listerine has been proclaimed and purchased as a remedy for colds. When viewed from this perspective, advertising which fails to rebut the prior claims as to Listerine's efficacy inevitably builds upon those claims; continued advertising continues the deception, albeit implicitly rather than explicitly. . . . Under this reasoning the First Amendment presents no direct obstacle. The Commission is not regulating truthful speech protected by the First Amendment, but is merely requiring certain statements which, if not present in current and future advertisements, would render those advertisements themselves part of the continuing deception of the public.

Id. at 769.

Here, too, certain Defendants have recently modified their public statements regarding the adverse health effects of smoking cigarettes and their addictiveness. Nevertheless, as in Warner-

Lambert, additional corrective statements to consumers and the public are necessary to prevent current and future advertisements from becoming "themselves part of the continuing deception of the public." 562 F.2d at 769. The injunctive relief sought here is narrowly tailored to prevent

Defendants from continuing to disseminate fraudulent public statements and marketing messages by requiring them to issue truthful corrective communications. See Zauderer, 471 U.S. at 651.

The evidence identifies the various venues in which Defendants have made their fraudulent public statements about cigarettes, including, but not limited to, newspapers, television, magazines, onsets, and Internet websites. See generally, Findings of Fact. For example, from the inception of the Enterprise's fraudulent scheme, newspapers and magazines have been primary vehicles for disseminating Defendants' public statements on smoking and health issues. See, e.g., 860174547454 (US 21418) (1954 Frank Statement printed in 448 newspapers nationwide); 2023011263-1263

(US 20371) (1994 Philip Morris "Facts You Should Know" advertisement in the New York Times);

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500810940-0941 (US 23036) (BATCo's Blackie Letter to Editor in 1994); TI00581619-1629 (US 62969); Dawson WD, 114:18-115:21; Dawson TT, 1/12/05, 9907:21- 9918:8 (ghostwritten letter to the editor challenging evidence of health effects of secondhand smoke, prepared for outside scientist to send to editors at AP, UPI, and 22 newspapers across the country, without disclosing TI's role or that scientist was a paid Tobacco Institute consultant); 513943434- 3434 (US 50268) (1984 RJR newspaper statement that whether smoking causes disease is an "open controversy").

More recently, Defendants -- particularly Altria and Philip Morris -- have used many of these same vehicles very effectively to disseminate their recently adopted Corporate Principles, including statements on smoking and health positions and alleged youth smoking prevention efforts. Szymanczyk WD, 86:22-93:3, 150:12-22. See generally Keane TT, 1/19/05, 10566:4-10578:17. For example, Philip Morris and Altria have run a range of television (and radio) advertisements to improve their public image, to promote Philip Morris's website, and to warn the public that there is no such thing as a safe cigarette. See, e.g., Keane TT, 10/19/05, 10577:1-25, 10620:9-18 (testimony about Philip Morris's national television and radio advertising campaign).

Accordingly, the Court will structure a remedy which uses the same vehicles which Defendants have themselves historically used to promulgate false smoking and health messages. Specifically, the Court will order Defendants to make corrective statements about addiction (that both nicotine and cigarette smoking are addictive); the adverse health effects of smoking (all the diseases which smoking has been proven to cause); the adverse health effects of exposure to ETS (all the diseases which exposure to ETS has been proven to cause); their manipulation of physical and chemical design of cigarettes (that Defendants do manipulate design of cigarettes in order to enhance the delivery of nicotine); and light and low tar cigarettes (that they are no less hazardous than full-flavor cigarettes). Within sixty days of the issuance of this opinion and order, both parties will submit a proposal for the exact wording of these statements. After the Court approves particular statements, Defendants must publish such corrective statements in newspapers and disseminate them through television, advertisements, onsets, in retail displays, and on their corporate websites, as detailed in the accompanying Order.53

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