A Vermont judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging claims by tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds that its Eclipse cigarette is healthier to smoke than the average cigarette can go forward.

Chittenden Superior Court Judge Dennis Pearson, in an 18-page ruling, denied R.J. Reynolds' request to dismiss outright the case filed by the Vermont Attorney General's Office on behalf of Vermont and 35 other states. Pearson also rejected all but one of nine other pre-trial motions filed by R.J. Reynolds regarding what evidence and witnesses could be used at the trial, which is scheduled to begin 5 October.
R.J. Reynolds has touted Eclipse's safety qualities in advertisements that include claims that the cigarette "may produce less risk of cancer." The cigarette, developed in the 1990s, warms instead of burning glycerol-impregnated tobacco through a carbon element in the cigarette's filter.
The state Attorney General's Office, acting as lead counsel for the 36 states, contends the scientific evidence cited by R.J Reynolds is not solid enough to back up the product's advertising claims. The states suing R.J. Reynolds are not seeking financial damages. Instead, Vermont is asking for an injunction to put a stop to the advertising claims. (pi)