Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Tobacco industry 'predatory rogue out of control'

Liz Hunt
Wednesday 19 July 1995 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Confidential documents allegedly stolen from tobacco manufacturers reveal the industry as "a predatory rogue raging out of control which has duped the public and politicians for years", according to the American Medical Association.

And, in an unprecedented step, the AMA has dedicated an entire issue of its journal to analysis of more than 1,300 documents which it says shows the extent of the industry's knowledge about the dangers of smoking over 30 years.

The action is the most aggressive step taken by doctors in the bitter battle with the tobacco industry, including British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest manufacturer of cigarettes.

Dr Thomas Huston, director of the AMA's Department of Public Health, said yesterday: "We hope that publishing these documents will persuade people who have supported cigarette companies as just another industry like General Motors or IBM, that it is something quite different."

The documents, some of which have previously been leaked to the New York Times, from Brown & Williamson and its parent company, BAT, confirm that its public stance that cigarettes were safe was at odds with its own research.

Analysis of the documents in the Journal of the American Medical Association show the companies knew that:

t Nicotine was addictive and cigarettes are "nicotine delivery devices". BAT officials looked to develop the positive effects of nicotine as a stress reducer. Sir Charles Ellis, a BAT executive at its London headquarters, described nicotine as a "very remarkable beneficent drug..."

t When evidence linked cigarettes with lung cancer BAT began research into alternative methods of delivering nicotine.

t Despite discovering that passive smoking was harmful, B&W and BAT withheld the information and publicly denied that it was a health risk.

t BAT and B&W lawyers steered company scientists away from potentially incriminating research, and selected evidence from externally-funded research to create confusion about the health effects of tobacco.

t The companies funded research resulting in "irrelevant" findings on cigarette smoking and repeatedly questioned the validity of independent research on the hazards of tobacco.

The Independent on Sunday last year revealed that British tobacco companies hushed up the health hazards of cigarettes, despite their research and concerns of some of their officials.

A spokesman for BAT declined to comment on the American analysis, while Brown & Williamson said the AMA's publication was "little more than a cherry-picking exercise designed to advance its stated mission to eliminate smoking".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in