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Frank Gerhardt and Big Tobacco cover up
#4
"Frank Gerhardt" were Christian names - sorry "forenames" FG is Jewish - and not the family name.

Yes he worked for RJ Reynolds but transferred over to the law firm Jacob, Medinger & Finegan on behalf of the tobacco lobby (so far as I can see) to act as the chief scientist in 1983. Based on press reports and testimony, depositions etc I've read he was a significant player on behalf of the tobacco industry in fighting what became the historic "Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement".

The humungous MSA award remains a disgraceful affair simply because the award has been whittled down and delayed and delayed and delayed by appeals etc. Imo, it is a case study of how to defeat the law and overcome justice through the use of power, wealth and influence.

In her ruling (see: http://no-smoking.org/aug06/08-23-06-4.html) Federal Judge Gladys Kessler slammed the law firms for conspiring to hide the evidence of the adverse health effects of smoking that had been covered up and hidden for 50 years. He wrath was directed, in addition to tobacco executives, at three law firms who she regarded as being complicit in the cover up:

Quote:"At every stage, lawyers played an absolutely central role in the creation and perpetuation of the Enterprise and the implementation of its fraudulent schemes," the D.C. federal judge wrote. She pointed to how both in-house counsel and outside law firms "devised" and "coordinated" strategy, directed scientists' research in favor of the industry, destroyed documents and "took shelter behind baseless assertions of attorney client privilege."

And

Quote:Numerous lawyers and firms aided the tobacco industry over the years, but Kessler's opinion highlighted three firms in particular: Covington & Burling; Jacob, Medinger & Finnegan; and Shook, Hardy & Bacon.

(my bolding)

In regard to Frank Gerhardt I'll try and find an appropriate link and post it over the next few days.

Edit = to provide an idea of the immensity of tobacco mortality, in 1985 in the US alone, 780,000 deaths were attributed to tobacco according to the US Surgeon-General. And by 1985 the risk of death from toabacco had decreased considerably from 1950, and represented 34% of males aged 35 years dying at ages 35-69 as a percentage of the population. In 1950 this percentage was 43%, a percentage that remained stable until 1970.

These figures are for the US alone. We're talking millions upon millions of deaths directly resulting from the tobacco industry.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14
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Messages In This Thread
Frank Gerhardt and Big Tobacco cover up - by Myra Bronstein - 06-02-2009, 02:58 PM
Frank Gerhardt and Big Tobacco cover up - by David Guyatt - 06-02-2009, 06:12 PM
Frank Gerhardt and Big Tobacco cover up - by Myra Bronstein - 07-02-2009, 07:05 AM

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