Pubdate:82297

Source:Orange County Registernews,page Headline:Tobacco executive concedes cigarettes 'might'be deadly

GEOFFREY BIBLE:The head of the company that makes Marlboros was questioned
for a lawsuit.(photo of Geoffrey Bible)

COURTS:The concession is a first for a head of Philip Morris,the nation's
largest cigarette maker.
By KAREN TESTEThe Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH,Fla.The chairman and CEO of Philip Morris Cos. said
Thursday that cigarettes "might have"killed 100,000 Americans,the first
time an executive with the nation's largest cigarette maker has
acknowledged a possible link between smoking and death.

The remark by Geoffrey Bible comes as Congress prepares to consider a $368
billion settlement that would wipe out most lawsuits against the industry.

Bible made the statement toward the end of 90 minutes of questioning in his
deposition by Ron Motley, an attorney for the state of Florida, which is
suing the tobacco industry for $12.3 billion for the public cost of
smokingrelated illnesses.

Florida was the first of 40 states suing the major tobacco companies to
bring a case to trial. Attorneys said they plan to prove the industry
manufactured a defective product and deceived the public about
smoking's dangers.

"I was impressed with the man's candor," said Motley, who today will
question Steven F. Goldstone, chairman and chief executive of RJR Nabisco.

Peter Bleakley, who represents Philip Morris and is the lead defense
attorney in the Florida lawsuit, played down the significance of Bible's
comments, which came as jury selection was ending its third week.

"I thought it was pretty uneventful," he said.

Motley called the comments a major concession. Aside from one industry
maverick, Bennett LeBow, no top tobacco executives have conceded
unequivocally that a single death has been caused by cigarette smoking.

LeBow, chief of the smallest of the major cigarette makers, Liggett Group,
has said that cigarettes kill and are addictive.

In contrast, Alexander Spears, Lorillard chairman and CEO, said in April,
"I don't think any of them (Americans) die of diseases caused by cigarette
smoking." 

During the deposition, Motley asked Bible: "Would Philip Morris agree that
a single American who smokes their products for 30 or more years, a single
one, has ever died of a disease caused in part by smoking cigarettes?"

Bible answered, "I think there's a fair chance that one would have, might
have."

Motley pressed, "How about 100,000?" 

Bible: "Might have." 

Publichealth officials estimate 450,000 Americans die each year from
illnesses caused by smoking and secondhand smoke.