Corrective Statements

As part of the remedial order, the district court ordered Defendants to disseminate “corrective statements” concerning 69 the topics about which they had previously misled consumers. The court will determine the precise content of the statements at a future date after receiving proposals from the parties, but ordered that they must address five topics:
(1) the adverse health effects of smoking;
(2) the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine;
(3) the lack of any significant health benefit from smoking light cigarettes;
(4) the manufacturers’ manipulation of cigarette design and composition to ensure optimum nicotine delivery;
and (5) the adverse health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke.

The remedial order sets out schedules for the manufacturer Defendants to follow in disseminating the corrective statements in cigarette package onserts, retail point-of-sale displays, newspapers, television, and their company websites.
Defendants object to the corrective statements as a whole on the grounds that they did not receive adequate notice of and opportunity to respond to the government’s proposed remedy and that the remedy extends beyond the court’s jurisdiction under RICO. Regarding the specific means of disseminating the statements, Defendants argue that cigarette package onserts violate the Labeling Act, that the point-of-sale displays are duplicative and impose severe burdens on retailers, and that requiring Defendants to make corrective statements in various media apart from existing advertising violates the First Amendment.