Judge Won’t Toss Nicotine Allegations

A federal judge rejected a request by tobacco companies to have government allegations that they manipulated nicotine levels excluded from a landmark racketeering trial due to start Sept. 13.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said nicotine manipulation was just one component of the government’s allegations of an overarching fraud that deceived the public about the dangers of smoking and the addictiveness of nicotine.

“First, the nicotine manipulation and addiction acts cannot be assessed in isolation, but must be evaluated in the context of the totality of the government’s fraud case,” Kessler said in her opinion rejecting the tobacco companies’ motion.