Suit Alleges Cigarette Manufacturers Made Product Unnecessarily Dangerous

Cigarette Expert WitnessThis case involves the development of lung cancer by a class of individuals after years of smoking. The dangers of the product stems from its addictive nature and the fact that the ultimate damages are seen only after years of habitual use. Tobacco companies designed cigarettes to be inhaled deeply into the lungs, unlike other tobacco products like cigars. In addition, cigarette companies allegedly treated and manipulated tobacco to make it more readily inhalable. It was claimed that cigarette companies understood and harnessed the addictive potential of tobacco including nicotine levels and other smoking reinforcing attributes, and that they failed to warn of the addictive nature of their products.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

  • 1. Have you ever been involved in the design of cigarettes or have you studied the design of cigarettes?
  • 2. How are cigarettes designed to maximize the inhalability of cigarette smoke and the pulmonary delivery of nicotine?
  • 3. How and why is the level of nicotine in a cigarette chosen?

Expert Witness Response E-114035

Cigarettes are designed in many ways to maximize the inhalability of cigarette smoke and the pulmonary delivery of nicotine. These include physical design features, use of a range of additives, and other features that affect the physical-chemical composition of smoke emissions, and their pharmacological, sensory, and chemosensory (e.g. harshness, smoothness) effects. Nicotine is the single-most significant chemical responsible for the addictiveness of cigarettes. I have unique, special knowledge and expertise in the subject of cigarette design, characterization, and marketing, promoting tobacco addiction, and its individual and population level public health effects. I am a nationally and internationally recognized scholar with expertise in this subject. I have authored approximately 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles in the field of tobacco control, including investigations of nicotine levels and other addictive physical design features of cigarettes.


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