Harmful Products: Punishing Companies for Public Health Damage

In the United States, there are numerous companies producing products that are harmful to public health, such as oil producers, opiate manufacturers, e-cigarette and tobacco industry giants.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed that tobacco companies be forced to lower the nicotine content in cigarettes in order to make them less addictive.

In September, a Massachusetts jury ordered Fimo International to pay over $8 million in compensatory damages and $1 billion in punitive damages for causing Fontaine's (name of deceased) lung cancer and death. This is the first multi-billion dollar punitive damages verdict in the state’s history. Fimo International has stated that the verdict is "clearly excessive" and vows to fight it.

Decades ago, Philip Morris International had the option to reduce nicotine levels in their products to make them less addictive. Instead, the company continued to produce deadly cigarettes despite knowing that they kill about 500,000 Americans every year. As demonstrated in the Fontaine case where she smoked Marlboro and other cigarettes, Philip Morris International continued to use harmful ingredients in their products.

To alter electronic cigarette products that harm public health, a system of punishment or reward is necessary to regulate the actions of e-cigarette companies. Electronic cigarette companies, worth billions of dollars, do not take lightly six or seven-figure fines, but fines in the tens of millions may be enough to make them cautious.

In the Fontaine case, the jury took a completely rational approach in search of a system that could both "punish and deter," resulting in the fine imposed on Femor International. In fact, imposing hefty fines in public health cases is a way to change the behavior of unscrupulous companies.

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