Action on Smoking and Health A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions    Info About ASH  | ash.org |  To Join ASH

Excerpts from Tobacco company makes concessions to state attorney general

Associated Press [05/11/99]

As part of an agreement signed with the state attorney general's office, the U.S. Tobacco Co. has acknowledged that smokeless tobacco can cause oral cancer and will pay $15,000 to help prevent youths in Rhode Island from using tobacco.

The tobacco company's concessions, made on Monday, stem from legal action filed by [Rhode Island] Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse in response to statements made by U.S. Tobacco spokesman Al Tortorella in The Providence Journal on April 7.

In the article, which was about efforts to curb the use of smokeless tobacco in major league baseball, Tortorella was quoted as saying that it has not been "scientifically established" that smokeless tobacco is "a cause of oral cancer."

In an April 8 letter to the tobacco company, Whitehouse said Tortorella's statements violated the terms of last year's tobacco settlement, which prohibits tobacco companies from making false health claims about their products.

The agreement signed Monday by the tobacco company requires it to retract Tortorella's prior comments and acknowledge to The Providence Journal that the "Surgeon General and other public health authorities have concluded that the use of smokeless tobacco can cause oral cancer and is addictive."

In addition, the tobacco company agreed to pay $15,000 to the attorney general's office for antismoking campaigns targeted at youths.

click here to return to ASH's Home Web Page: http://ash.org
click here for more information about Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
click here to learn the many benefits of joining ASH on-line, over the Internet