US judge adamant on statements

A US federal judge remains determined to enforce her order that five corrective statements be used by tobacco manufacturers to inform consumers of the risk of smoking cigarettes, according to a story by Richard Craver for the Winston-Salem Journal.

However, judge Gladys Kessler of the D.C. District Court said on Monday that the federal government had agreed to tweak the preamble to the statements and some of the statements to deal with the manufacturers’ legal complaints.

The parties are required to submit ‘minor changes’ by April 1.

The corrective statements are supposed to appear on company websites and cigarette packages, and in newspaper and television advertisements, but it has not been determined when they should start to appear.

Kessler ruled in November 2012 that cigarette marketing carry the overarching preamble: ‘A federal court has ruled that the defendant tobacco companies deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking, and has ordered those companies to make this statement’.

Craver’s piece is at: http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/judge-renews-call-for-truth-statements-about-cigarettes/article_0fe6e7cc-f349-5874-be25-b4da16537849.html.