Altria/Philip Morris: “larger wave” of job cuts this month Altria Group Inc. said yesterday that it expects a wave of layoffs this month at its Richmond-area operations but declined to specify the number of employees affected. The parent company of cigarette maker Philip Morris USA said last fall that it was reducing staff as part of a corporate reorganization.

A Florida jury decided yesterday that a longtime chain smoker’s death from lung cancer was caused by nicotine addiction, a potentially costly loss for tobacco giant Philip Morris and an important test case for thousands of similar lawsuits. The lawsuit by Elaine Hess, widow of Stuart Hess, is the first of about 8,000 such cases to go to trial since the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 threw out a $145 billion jury award in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of smokers and their families.

Swedish Match AB, the parent company of Chesterfield County-based Swedish Match North America, is joining with cigarette maker Philip Morris International to sell a smokeless tobacco product called snus. The companies announced yesterday that they are forming a joint venture based in Sweden to sell snus in markets outside of Scandinavia and the U.S.

A House of Delegates subcommittee rejected two bills yesterday that sought to increase Virginia’s cigarette excise tax, including Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s proposal to double the tax to 60 cents per pack. The House Finance subcommittee voted 8-2 to table that bill. The panel unanimously dismissed another bill backed by public-health groups that would have increased the tax to $1.19 per pack.

Supporters of stricter indoor-smoking laws and higher cigarette taxes in Virginia turned out yesterday to lobby state lawmakers. About 150 volunteers descended on the Capitol, urging legislators to vote for bills that would crack down on smoking in workplaces and increase the state’s cigarette tax to $1.20 from 30 cents per pack. A coalition of public-health groups organized the effort.

Business and tobacco interests said they will fight Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s latest attempt to prohibit smoking in Virginia restaurants, while public health groups are seeking a broader workplace ban. Saying he was “compelled by concern for the health and well-being of all Virginians,“ Kaine yesterday proposed a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants, including dining areas in public and private clubs. This is at least the third time Kaine has promoted such legislation.

The top cigarette company in the nation is also its top seller of smokeless tobacco. Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., the parent company of cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, said yesterday that it completed its $10.4 billion acquisition of UST Inc., maker of the top-selling premium moist snuff brands Skoal and Copenhagen. The acquisition, which includes the assumption of $1.3 billion in debt, gives Altria a leading position in the growing smokeless-tobacco category and a platform for potential growth as cigarette consumption declines in the United States.

Gov. Tim Kaine proposes raising Virginia’s cigarette tax to help balance the state budget without making further cuts in important services such as Medicaid.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that smokers can sue tobacco companies in state court over what they say are fraudulent claims.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that smokers can sue tobacco companies in state court over what they say are fraudulent claims. Tobacco companies were counting on the high court to put an end to lawsuits alleging deceptive marketing of “light” and “low-tar” cigarettes. The decision was at odds with recent anti-consumer rulings that limited state regulation of business in favor of federal power.

Philip Morris wants smokers to try new things—but they’re a tough group to convince. Just this year, Philip Morris pulled the silvery packs of its Marlboro UltraSmooth cigarettes from store shelves after a three-year effort to test a complicated new filter.

As the U.S. market for cigarettes shrinks, the country’s largest manufacturer is toiling away at perfecting its products and developing other ones at its new research center in Richmond.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has online records of patents granted and patent applications at http://patft.uspto.gov.
The National Institutes of Health and National Library of Medicine have a database of medical journal abstracts at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed.

Philip Morris USA pulled research even closer to its vest this year, quietly canceling a multimillion-dollar grant program for young scientists.

Here’s an ABC of some additives that go into cigarettes — not all at one time — compiled from a list of 599 additives disclosed by tobacco-makers to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.