BMJ 2000;321:371-374 ( 5 August )

Education and debate

"Operation Berkshire": the international tobacco companies' conspiracy

Neil Francey, barrister at law ^a, Simon Chapman, associate professor ^b. 

^a Wentworth Chambers, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia, ^b VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia

Correspondence to: S Chapman, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia simonc@health.usyd.edu.au

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Advocates of tobacco control worldwide have long suspected collusion among major international tobacco companies over their refusal to acknowledge that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other serious diseases. Tobacco industry documents now available on the internet disclose the establishment of a conspiracy between Philip Morris, R J Reynolds, British-American Tobacco, Rothmans, Reemtsma, and UK tobacco companies Gallaher and Imperial, dating from 1977. The documents also disclose the objects of the conspiracy: basically, to protect the industry's commercial interests both by promoting controversy over smoking and disease and through strategies directed at reassuring smokers.

The documents also disclose the means of implementing the conspiracy by utilising national manufacturers' associations coordinated through the International Committee on Smoking Issues, later to become the International Tobacco Information Centre. We expose the formation of the conspiracy and its objectives and means of implementation over the ensuing decades.

Table Removed (Available Only in the Full Text)

	Methods

After learning of a document referring . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

The truth about big tobacco in its own words

Stanton A Glantz
BMJ 2000 321: 313-314. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Mamudu, H. M., Hammond, R., Glantz, S. A. (2008). Project Cerberus: Tobacco Industry Strategy to Create an Alternative to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. AJPH 98: 1630-1642 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Davis, R M (2008). British American Tobacco ghost-wrote reports on tobacco advertising bans by the International Advertising Association and J J Boddewyn. Tobacco Control 17: 211-214 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Derry, R., Waikar, S. V. (2008). Frames and Filters: Strategic Distrust as a Legitimation Tool in the 50-Year Battle Between Public Health Activists and Big Tobacco. Business Society 47: 102-139 [Abstract]  
• Malone, R. E (2007). Working to make a disease. Tobacco Control 16: 361-362 [Full text]  
• McDaniel, P A, Smith, E A, Malone, R E (2006). Philip Morris's Project Sunrise: weakening tobacco control by working with it. Tobacco Control 15: 215-223 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Gruning, T., Gilmore, A. B., McKee, M. (2006). Tobacco Industry Influence on Science and Scientists in Germany. AJPH 96: 20-32 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Chapman, S (2005). The most important and influential papers in tobacco control: results of an online poll. Tobacco Control 14: e1-e1 [Full text]  
• Ling, P M, Glantz, S A (2005). Tobacco industry consumer research on socially acceptable cigarettes. Tobacco Control 14: e3-e3 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Neuman, M D, Bitton, A, Glantz, S A (2005). Tobacco industry influence on the definition of tobacco related disorders by the American Psychiatric Association. Tobacco Control 14: 328-337 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Frieden, T. R., Blakeman, D. E. (2005). The Dirty Dozen: 12 Myths That Undermine Tobacco Control. AJPH 95: 1500-1505 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Tofler, A, Chapman, S (2003). "Some convincing arguments to pass back to nervous customers": the role of the tobacco retailer in the Australian tobacco industry's smoker reassurance campaign 1950-1978. Tobacco Control 12: iii7-12 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Chapman, S, Carter, S M (2003). "Avoid health warnings on all tobacco products for just as long as we can": a history of Australian tobacco industry efforts to avoid, delay and dilute health warnings on cigarettes. Tobacco Control 12: iii13-22 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Carter, S M, Chapman, S (2003). Smoking, disease, and obdurate denial: the Australian tobacco industry in the 1980s. Tobacco Control 12: iii23-30 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Fields, N, Chapman, S (2003). Chasing Ernst L Wynder: 40 years of Philip Morris' efforts to influence a leading scientist. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 57: 571-578 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Daynard, R (2003). Why tobacco litigation?. Tobacco Control 12: 1-2 [Full text]  
• Waxman, H A (2003). Tobacco industry statements in the US Department of Justice lawsuit. Tobacco Control 12: 94-101 [Full text]  
• Yach, D., Bialous, S. A. (2001). Junking Science to Promote Tobacco. AJPH 91: 1745-1748 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Glantz, S. A (2000). The truth about big tobacco in its own words. BMJ 321: 313-314 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Mistaken suggestion

John Slade
bmj.com, 24 Aug 2000 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more>>