Tobacco Documents Online

"" KIVILEG~D AND cONFIDENTI~ M esot Court F~e N o.: C1.9~$565 Ladies and Gentlemen of the jut/, during the course of this tr±al you will hear a good deal about the Council for Tobacco Research. This corporation was created in 1954 by the tobacco industr/. It was then called the Tobacco Industry Research Committee. It was created for the ±ndustr/by the public relations fin of Hill & Knowlton for the express purposes of trying persuade the /~nerican public, pu.blic health authorities, Congress and scient£sts that the industry was concerned about the fact that cigarettes killed thousands of Americans each year and to support research that would either prove that smoking did not cause lung cancer or, at the very least, create doubts in the minds of those same people. It was a public relations gimmick because the industry controlled the research from 1954 right up until today. How did it control the research? First, through the Board of Directors. Now we all know what the Board of Directors of a corporation does -- it is responsible to the shareholders to see that the interests of the shareholders are protected. It sets the policy of the corporation. It makes sure the corporation is run the way the directors want it run. Guess who serves on the Board -- that's right, the industry executives, many of whom are lawyers. Now, how independent do you think the CTR research is? How much scientific merit do you thiILk it has? Second, the industry controls the research through the chairman. Now we all know what the chairman of a corporation does. He is the boss. He makes sure that the policies of the board are implemented. He makes sure the corporation is run t~e way the board wants it run. Guess TIMN 0015300

~RIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIkL l~odt~d as tequ~ed by the Court's M~¢h 7,1998 Ord~ St~e of Minnesota, et ~. ~ Phi~p Morris, et Cou~ F~e No.: C1-94-8565 who all the chai~-~en of ~1~ have been -- that's r±ght, retired industry executives, many of whom have been lauTers. ~is so-called independent research co~poration has been led for 36 years by nothing but industry executives and lawyers carrying out the orders of the tobacco companies. Would you believe the Food & Drug Administration if you found out it was run by the people who made the Dalkon-Shield? Would you believe the Environmental Protection Agency if you found out it was run by Exxon? Would you believe the FAA if you found out it was run by Eastern Airlines? Wet1, you've just found out the CTR is run by the tobacco industry. Not one chairman of the CTR will testify during this trial because the tobacco companies know you will not believe him. Not one member of the so-called independent Scientific Advisory Board will testify because they're afraid you'll find out they're not so independent. And if a member of the Board of CTR testifies, please remember two things -- first, he's an executive with a tobacco company and second, he will tell you that smoking doesn't cause lung cancer. You are entitled -- no, required to be the judge of his credibility. 10230746 - 2 - TIMN 0015301