Tobacco Documents Online

Philip Morris Sues ABC Over Reports on Nicotine Firm Denies `Spiking' Addictive Content of Cigarettes i _41 ~ ~' :'2 By Howard Kurtz Wastunqtnn Pw Jtaff Wnter Philip Moms Co. filed a $10 billion libel suit against ABC yesterday, charging that the network falsely accused the tobacco in- dustry of artificially "spiking" its cigarettes with added nicotine. ABC News said in a statement that it "stands by its reporting on this issue" but de- clined to comment further. The nation's largest tobacco company an- nounced the lawsuit the day before a House subcommittee hearing today in which David A Kessler, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, is to testify about his plan to consider regulating tobacco products on grounds that manufacturers may be using nicotine, the addictive substance in ciga- rettes, as a drug to hook smokers. The lawsuit, filed in state circuit court in Richmond, stems from ABC's "Day One" broadcasts on cigarette production Feb. 28 and March 7. The suit also names ABC cor- respondent John Martin and producer Walt Bogdanich as defendants. Steven Parrish, senior vice president of Philip Morris USA, said the company, whose best-known product is Marlboro, was "out- raged" by the ABC broadcasts. "We gave them two written statements, both pointing out that we do not spike our cigarettes with nicotine," Parrish said. "They did not use the statements, nor did 'Day One' indicate they had asked us for com- ment" One ABC official disputed this account, saying: "We asked them repeatedly to appear for on-camera interviews and they declined. We gave them advance questions and they sent us statements which did not answer our 9uestions" But Philip Morris general counsel Murray Bring said in a statement that "these allega- tions are not true and ABC knows they are not true " ABC charged in the first broadcast that the tobacco industry "artificially adds nico- tine to keep people smoking and boost prof- its." The segment focused mainly on RJ. Reynolds, but said a Philip Morris official had written an internal memo decades ago that a cigarette should be codsidered "a storage container for a day's supply of nico- tine." Parrish acknowledged that Philip Morris removes n+aotwe whi]e malang recerastituted tobacc.o. i ad its vitt+•'11v 211 ri "rattre - -I "What gets reapplied is less than what came out.... We quarrel with the notion that we are adding extraneous nicotine " The compa- ny said the reconstituted product contains 20 to 25 percent less nicotine than ordinary to- bacco leaf. Philip Morris is seeking $5 billion each in compensatory and punitive damages, Parrish said, because the "Day One" segments have played a role in the FDA and congressional investigations and prompted a sharp decline in the price of the company's stock. Presi- dent Clinton has expressed concern about the ABC allegations, and Kessler announced his inquiry after learning that the "Day One" broadcast was imminent. While the pretrial discovery process would allow ABC to examine internal documents about the Philip Morris manufacturing pro- cess, Parrish said the company plans to pur- sue the case all the way to triaL Cliff Douglas of the American Cancer So- ciety called the Philip Morris suit "a desper- ate act. They're seeking to counter in a big public way the public relations nightmare they've been facing in recent weeks, result- ing from the disclosure that tobacco compa- nies manipulate the addictive drug in their product." Washington attorney Bruce Sanford, a First Amendment specialist, said that as a public company Philip Morris must prove ac- tual malice by ABC, "either knowledge of fal- sity or reckless disregard for the truth. The issue really is what did ABC know and when did they know it." The suit comes at a time when federal, state and local governments are enacting broad new restrictions on smoking, and a House subcommittee voted this week to in- crease the cigarette tax by $1.25 per pwk. The cover story in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, which focused on Philip Morris, was entitled "How Do Tobacco Ex- ecutives Live With Themselves.r Philip Morris joined R.J. Reynolds and oth- er groups last year in a suit to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's designa- tion of secondhand smoke as a potent carcin- ogen. A number of major corporations have sued network news shows in an effort to counter negative pubiictity. General Motors sued and won a public apology from "Dateline NBC" last year over the program's stagingg of a fi- ery crash of a GM piclaip truck. Food lion has sued ABC's "PrimeTime Live" over a re- r-irt aP-a', r i .,. ,a..Fy nr -t4.b. hy t} + I s-