US/WORLD: Smokeless Tobacco to Get Push by Venture Overseas
Swedish Match AB and Philip Morris International Inc. announced a joint venture Tuesday to market smokeless tobacco world-wide. The venture combines a world-wide giant in smokeless, Swedish Match, with the world’s second-largest purveyor of cigarettes, PMI, an Altria Inc. spinoff.
US: Tobacco Trial Opens in Florida, First of Many Suits
The first of about 8,000 lawsuits blaming the health problems and deaths of Florida smokers on tobacco companies went to trial Tuesday. The key to the case is proving whether now-deceased Stuart Hess was addicted to cigarettes made by Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris, a unit of Altria Group.
US: Altria Ruling Ignites Legal Moves
The Supreme Court’s ruling last week allowing smokers in Maine to sue Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris unit for allegedly deceptive advertising of “light” cigarettes already is prompting new legal activity, including an effort to revive a multibillion-dollar case against the tobacco company that had been thrown out.