An Israeli lawsuit against U.S. cigarette companies is citing an alleged internal Philip Morris memo as evidence that the biggest U.S. cigarette maker made cigarettes containing naturally radioactive tobacco. Hausner said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. The case was brought on behalf of the Clalit national health fund which represents 60 percent of Israelis. It will be the first major suit to use what is alleged to be an internal Philip Morris memo found in the Minnesota archive that cigarette companies were forced to establish by U.S. court order, Hausner said.
Polonium is radioactive.
But he pointed out that smokers never knew or in any way agreed to smoke radioactive cigarettes. The case, filed in 1998, is still at a preliminary stage. Once it goes to trial, Hausner said, he will demand that Philip Morris provide details about how widely the fertilisers were used and whether they are still used. He said that it was possible the radioactive fertiliser was used by other cigarette companies besides Philip Morris. It's according to where the tobacco has been grown and what fertilisers were used,'' he said.