(November 28, 2012) Big Tobacco Court-Ordered To Tell Only Half The Truth

This week, a U.S. judge ordered tobacco companies to publicly admit they lied about the dangers of smoking, but they are still being allowed to cover up the lethal, radiation-linked health risks associated with tobacco use.

With the latest order by a U.S. judge to force tobacco firms to admit they lied about the dangers of smoking making today's international headlines, it is easy to forget that big tobacco did not only lie, but knowingly allowed millions of smokers to suffer and die from radioisotope-contaminated tobacco poisoning with their full knowledge and consent.

According to a 2009 article in the journal Isis, both external and industry scientists started researching the dangers of radioisotopes in cigarettes over 40 years ago. The first scientific paper on polonium-210, a daughter radioisotope of uranium, linking it to lung cancer was published in 1964. According to the article:

"Despite forty years of research suggesting that polonium is a leading carcinogen in tobacco, the manufacturers have not made a definitive move to reduce the concentration of radioactive isotopes in cigarettes.