As part of a 12-year-old lawsuit against the tobacco industry, the Justice Department this week released 14 "corrective statements" that it says tobacco companies should be required to make.

US District Court Judge Gladys Kessler made this week's ruling to unseal the "corrective statements". One "corrective" statement says: "A federal court is requiring tobacco companies to tell the truth about cigarette smoking. Here's the truth: … Smoking kills 1,200 Americans. Every day."
Philip Morris USA and its parent company Altria Group expressed concern about the "corrective statements," contending the statements go beyond factual and scientific information.
The company said it will work with the Justice Department but would "challenge the proposal at the appropriate time", so Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel. "The Department of Justice proposal would compel the companies to admit wrongdoing under threat of contempt," said Garnick. "Such a proposal is unprecedented in our legal system and would violate basic constitutional and statutory standards."
The Justice Department released its proposed statements after winning the approval of the judge in the case, Gladys Kessler, to place them in the public record. She has said she wants the industry to pay for corrective statements in various types of ads, both broadcast and print, but she has not made a final decision on what the statements will say, where they must be placed or for how long.
The judge ruled in 2006 that the tobacco industry had concealed the dangers of smoking for decades. If Kessler approves, the proposed statements by the cigarette makers would become the remedy to ensure the companies don't repeat the violation. The case was brought by the government against the industry in 1999. (pi)