Citation

McGuire A. Inj. Prev. 2005; 11(5): 264-266.

Affiliation

Trauma Foundation, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA; am@tf.org

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/ip.2005.009936

PMID

16203833

PMCID

PMC1730265

Abstract

The long campaign for the fire safe cigarette nears its conclusion. During the past two years, three significant events have occurred that will lead to the global reduction of fires caused by cigarettes. First, on 6 May 2003 in a Cleburne, Texas courthouse, the Philip Morris cigarette company ended an eight year products liability case by agreeing to pay damages of $2 million to Shannon Moore before the case went to a jury. Shannon was 21 months old when she sustained a 77% burn injury in a fire caused by a Marlboro cigarette. This represents the first "admission" of guilt by a cigarette company after 15 unsuccessful lawsuits filed in the United States during the past 25 years. Second, on 28 June 2004 the first regulation of cigarettes for fire safety took effect in New York state.