Government Asked to Limit Marketing of 'Reduced-Risk' Cigarettes March 22, 2001
News Summary
Twenty-two public-health groups called on U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to limit the marketing of "reduced risk" cigarettes by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Reuters reported March 16.The groups, including the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association, claim that R.J. Reynolds is making unsubstantiated health claims regarding its Eclipse cigarettes.
In its marketing of Eclipse cigarettes, the company states that they offer smokers less risk of cancer and other diseases. "Our claim is fully substantiated by an extensive battery of scientific research and we stand behind our claims," said R.J. Reynolds Tobacco spokesman Seth Moskowitz. "The weight of the evidence from this research clearly shows that compared to other cigarettes Eclipse may present smokers with less risk of cancer, chronic bronchitis and possibly emphysema."
In a letter to Thompson, the public-health groups cited a February report by the Institute of Medicine (IoM) that found that cigarettes made with modified tobacco or designed to burn at low temperatures do not make smoking safer, and may even be dangerous.
The groups also urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take action.
"If the FDA fails to act to stop R.J. Reynolds from making health-related claims in light of the findings of the IoM, it is tantamount to a license to Reynolds and other tobacco companies to make unsubstantiated and unproven health claims with impunity and without fear of federal oversight," said the group's letter to Thompson.
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