Is the FDA Tobacco Bill the "Altria Earnings Protection Act"?

by Anne Landman — January 15, 2009 - 3:42pm

cigarettes tied together with string A bill to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) control over tobacco will actually protect the tobacco industry to such an extent that Fortune magazine has dubbed it the "Altria Earnings Protection Act." Why? Because the bill prevents FDA from ever banning cigarettes, which assures the existence of a cigarette market into the future. The bill's wording also makes it very tough for tobacco companies to introduce new products, since they would have to be judged "appropriate for the protection of the public health." It even orders a crackdown on counterfeit cigarette sales, which will help protect established companies. All these factors will help preserve the status quo for the tobacco business, cementing Altria's 51 percent market share into the foreseeable future.

Main Source:

MoneyWeek, January 16, 2009

Comments

Altria Earnings Protection Act

Submitted by CallmeMrLiberty on January 24, 2009 - 6:54pm.

One of the first things I look for when I browse articles on a new site is whether or not the authors give the reader ANYTHING with which to check the facts asserted. For instance, if you refer to a bill, as this article does, not giving the number of the bill being referred to is amateurish, irresponsible journalism. Following three links from the original post left me with the same question I started with.

Articles of this nature absolutely reek of leftist partisan politics. I don't know the author, so why on earth would I ever trust what they said verbatim. So far, I have seen little to no responsible journalism on this site. I may give it one more chance, but that's about it.