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'Light' cigarette case not preempted, First Circuit says.

Article Excerpt
The First Circuit recently allowed a case brought by "lights" smokers against cigarette manufacturers to move forward, reversing a district court's decision. The lower court had granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, ruling that the plaintiffs' claims were preempted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA). The plaintiffs sued Philip Morris USA, Inc., and its parent company, Altria Group, Inc., under the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act (MUTPA). The manufacturers' claims that light cigarettes were lower in tar and nicotine than regular, "full-flavor" cigarettes--when they actually delivered the same amount of tar and nicotine--constituted unfair and deceptive trade practices, the plaintiffs argued. They sought the return of sums they had paid to buy lights, as well as punitive damages and attorney fees.

The First Circuit held that the plaintiffs' claims were neither expressly nor implicitly preempted by the FCLAA, nor implicitly preempted by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversight of cigarette advertising, nor barred by exemptions in the MUTPA. (Good v. Altria Group,...

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