Philip Morris Faces Lawsuit

Philip Morris(PM) introduced a new cigarette in the summer of 2000 called Merit PaperSelect. A $20 million advertising campaign was launched in the fall of 2000 by PM, claiming these cigarettes were made with a special paper that "may be less likely to ignite certain fabrics". A PM company scientist, appointed the task of analyzing this new product, discovered that they were, in fact, more likely to cause fire and injury than regular cigarettes. When he shared his findings with the company, he was fired.

Now, in a lawsuit alleging PM dismissed the scientist in an effort to conceal the dangers of this new, "safer" cigarette, the U.S. Department of Justice has a key witness: Michael Lee Watkins, the pink-slipped scientist. Read more...