Feds: Cigarette Makers Lied for 50 Years

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Feds: Cigarette Makers Lied for 50 Years

Tue Sep 21, 5:50 PM ET By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cigarette makers lied and tried to confuse the public about the dangers of smoking for 50 years, the U.S. government said on Tuesday as its $280 billion case against the industry went to trial.

In opening arguments in the biggest and most ambitious racketeering case in history, the government said a 1953 meeting of tobacco industry executives at New York's Plaza Hotel was the starting point for a conspiracy designed to cast doubt on links between cancer and cigarettes.

"This case is about a 50-year pattern of misrepresentation, half-truths and lies by the defendants that continues to this day," U.S. Justice Department attorney Frank Marine told a federal court.

The 1999 lawsuit launched under President Bill Clinton (targets Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO - news) and its Philip Morris USA unit; Loews Corp.'s (NYSE:LTR - news) Lorillard Tobacco unit, which has a tracking stock, Carolina Group (NYSE:CG - news); Vector Group Ltd.'s (NYSE:VGR - news) Liggett Group; Reynolds American Inc.'s (NYSE:RAI - news) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and British American Tobacco Plc (BATS.L) unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&ncid=568&e=9&u=/nm/20040921/bs_nm/tobacco_racketeering_dc