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From SourceWatch

An article from the November 19, 1969 Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press describes a case where the Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company (L&M) tried to block the use of a death certificate as a foundation for medical testimony linking smoking to a fatal lung cancer in a deceased father of four. L&M was facing a $750,000 damage claim alleging that a man named Leslie Thayer died from lung cancer caused by 30 years of smoking Chesterfield cigarettes, an L&M product. One of the Liggett attorney's arguments before the jury to exclude the death certificate information, before the judge quickly stopped him, was that "the industry supplies 314,000 jobs and contribues $4 billion annually to the economy."^[1]

Related Sourcewatch resources

• Tobacco industry
• Tobacco industry legislation
• Tobacco industry public relations strategies
• Leslie Thayer
• Tobacco industry position on indicating tobacco use on death certificates
• Tobacco industry and death certificates

External resources

• University of Michigan Tobacco Research Network

References

1. ↑ Hank Bornheimer, Grand Rapids Press Tobacco Co. Overruled on Death Certificate Use Newspaper article. November 19, 1969. Tobacco Institute Bates No.TITX0013356