Washington D.C. Court of Appeals upholds lower courts racketeering verdict.
Washington, D.C.(JusticeNewsFlash.com)–Toxic tort civil trial lawyers declared victory in a decades long legal battle against big tobacco companies in a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Friday. Reuters released the story revealing the Washington appellate court upheld a lower court’s racketeering verdict against tobacco manufacturers. The higher court ruled tobacco makers lied to consumers for years to sell cigarettes.
Cigarette product manufacturers, like Phillip Morris USA and Altria Group Inc., knew their tobacco products were dangerous to consumers and systematically failed to reveal this important health information. Various tobacco products have been proven to be known carcinogens causing several different types of cancer including lung cancer and other life-long illnesses. The three judge panel also upheld the lower court’s decision to reject enforcing expensive remedies like providing smoking cessation programs.
The justices unanimously ruled big tobacco companies including: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit of Reynolds American Inc, Lorillard Inc, Vector Group Ltd’s Liggett Group, British American Tobacco Plc and its Brown & Williamson unit, and now defunct industry groups: the Council for Tobacco Research and the Tobacco Institute, violated federal anti-racketeering laws when they conspired to lie about smoking dangers. Lawyers for tobacco companies stated the legal fight would continue through the court system and plan on taking their legal action all the way to the Supreme Court.
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