US opens €280bn case on big tobacco

CIGARETTE makers lied and tried to confuse the public about the dangers of smoking for 50 years, the US government said as its $280 billion case against the industry went to trial in Washington.

Defeat for the tobacco giants in the biggest civil racketeering case in history could bankrupt them.

In opening the case, the government said a 1953 meeting of tobacco industry executives at New York’s Plaza Hotel was the starting point for a conspiracy designed to cast doubt on links between cancer and cigarettes.

The lawsuit targets Altria Group Inc and its Philip Morris USA unit; Loews Corp’s Lorillard Tobacco unit, which has a tracking stock, Carolina Group; Vector Group Ltd’s Liggett Group; Reynolds American Inc’s RJ Reynolds Tobacco unit and British American Tobacco Plc (BATS) unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.