After a two-month break, trial resumes today in a suit in which the state of Vermont charges that R.J. Reynolds claimed a new cigarette was safer for smokers without scientific data to back its claim.
Vermont, which is suing the tobacco company for itself and 35 other states, has taken aim at Reynolds’ marketing statements that say its Eclipse cigarettes, which heat rather than burn tobacco, are safer than regular cigarettes.
Judge Dennis Pearson recently said he would allow the company’s lawyers to enter into evidence statements the attorney general made 11 years ago about another cigarette that was said to be safer. The company says the attorney general urged it to step up marketing of that product.