Lorillard, Reynolds Win Ruling on Tobacco Advisory Board Conflict

Source from:  Triad Business Journal  09/15/2015

A federal judge has ruled that members of a board advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had conflicts of interest and use of its report on menthol cigarettes should be barred, handing Lorillard Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. a victory, Bloomberg reports.

The two companies, based in the Triad, had argued that three of the nine original voting members of the panel had served as drug company consultants for smoking cessation products and served as paid expert witnesses in lawsuits against tobacco companies.

An anti-smoking advocate tells Bloomberg that barring use of the 2011 report that found that the use of menthol flavoring makes it more likely that people will start smoking and less likely that they will quit isn't expected to have a major effect. That's because an in-house FDA study came to a similar conclusion. Enditem