Former FDA Chief Says Industry Manipulated Nicotine Levels
David Kessler, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), charged during testimony in the U.S. government's $280-billion racketeering case against tobacco firms that cigarette makers manipulated nicotine levels in their products, the Dow Jones News Service reported Sept. 14.
In court testimony, Kessler, who served as the FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997, said that the tobacco industry intentionally misled the agency. According to Kessler, tobacco giants Philip Morris, Brown & Williamson and R.J. Reynolds "denied that nicotine was addictive" and "denied that they manipulated the level of nicotine in cigarettes" when the FDA was conducting investigations into tobacco and public health during the 1990s.
Kessler said that research conducted by the FDA's drug labs suggested that tobacco firms were "controlling and manipulating the level of nicotine" in their light cigarettes.
The government's lawsuit claims that tobacco makers manipulated nicotine levels and falsely denied that smoking is addictive. The lawsuit also accuses the tobacco industry of misleading the public about the safety of low-tar cigarettes.
Companies named in the lawsuit are Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. and Brown & Williamson, which have since merged to form Reynolds American Inc.; British American Tobacco PLC; Vector Group Ltd.'s Liggett Group Inc.; and Loews Corp.'s Lorillard Tobacco Co.
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