Altria Bid to End Court Oversight Draws Judges’ Skepticism
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Cigarette makers, including Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA unit, drew skeptical questions from a federal appeals court for their contention they shouldn’t be bound any longer by penalties imposed in a 13-year-old case.
Judges on an appeals panel in Washington said today they were “troubled” and “puzzled” by claims that a 2009 law giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate cigarette sales extinguished court oversight of three companies found in a U.S. lawsuit to have violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.