The Associated Press reported the U.S. Justice Department has asked a federal judge to compel tobacco companies to advertise that smoking causes health problems.
The department submitted 14 proposed statements to the court, including:
“A federal court is requiring tobacco companies to tell the truth about cigarette smoking. Here's the truth: ... Smoking kills 1,200 Americans. Every day.”
Philip Morris issued a statement saying that it acknowledges that smoking causes cancer and heart disease and is addictive but believes the proposed statements from the Justice Department are in violation of an earlier court ruling. That ruling held that corrective statements must be factual and noncontroversial.
The tobacco companies have responded by asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit and called some of the statements “inflammatory and incorrect.”
