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Jeffrey Wigand: The big tobacco whistleblower — Transcript

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0:0060 minutes rewind a story we set out to
0:05report six months ago has now turned
0:07into two stories how cigarettes can
0:10destroy people's lives and how one
0:12cigarette company is trying to destroy
0:14the reputation of a man who refused to
0:16keep quiet about what he says he learned
0:18when he worked for them
0:19the company is Brown & Williamson
0:21America's third largest tobacco company
0:24the man they've set out to destroy is
0:27dr. Jeffrey Wigand their former $300,000
0:30a year director of research they
0:32employed prestigious law firms to sue
0:34him a high-powered investigation firm to
0:37probe every nook and cranny of his life
0:39and they hired a big-time public
0:41relations consultant to help them plant
0:43damaging stories about him in The
0:45Washington Post The Wall Street Journal
0:47and others but the journal reported the
0:50story for what they thought it was scant
0:52evidence was just one of their comments
0:55CBS management wouldn't let us broadcast
0:58our original story and our interview
1:00with Jeffrey Wigand because they were
1:02worried about the possibility of a
1:04multi-billion dollar lawsuit against us
1:06for tortious interference that is
1:09interfering with waggons confidentiality
1:11agreement with Brown & Williamson but
1:14now things have changed last week the
1:17Wall Street Journal got hold off and
1:18published a confidential deposition
1:21Wiegand gave in a Mississippi case a
1:23November deposition that repeated many
1:26of the charges he made to us last August
1:28and while a lawsuit is still a
1:30possibility not putting Jeffrey Wigand
1:32story on 60 minutes no longer is what
1:36dr. Wigand told us in that original
1:38interview was that his former colleagues
1:40executives of Brown & Williamson Tobacco
1:43knew all along that their tobacco
1:45products their cigarettes and pipe
1:47tobacco contained additives that
1:49increase the danger of disease and
1:51further that they had long known that
1:53the nicotine in tobacco is an addictive
1:55drug despite their public statements to
1:58the contrary like the testimony before
2:00Congress of doctor wagons former boss
2:02B&W chief executive officer Thomas
2:05Anderson I believe was
2:08I believe he perjured himself because I
2:12watched those testimonies very carefully
2:15all of us did there was the whole line
2:17of people though the whole line of CEOs
2:19up there all swearing that and part of
2:21the reason I'm here is I felt that their
2:24representation clearly at least within
2:27brown & williamson's representation
2:29clearly misstated what they commonly
2:31knew his language within the company now
2:34we're gonna make a team delivery
2:35business and that's what cigarettes are
2:37for most certainly it's a delivery
2:39device for nicotine a delivery device
2:41vanilla tea put it in your mouth light
2:43it up and you're gonna get your fix do
2:46you get to fix dr. Wigand says that
2:48Brown & Williamson manipulates and
2:50adjusts that nicotine fix not by
2:53artificially adding nicotine but by
2:55enhancing the effect of the nicotine
2:57through the use of chemical additives
2:59like ammonia this process is known in
3:02the tobacco industry as impact boosting
3:04while not spiking nicotine they clearly
3:07manipulated the process is described in
3:10brown & williamson's leaf blenders
3:12manual and in other B&W documents
3:15there's extensive use of this technology
3:17which is called ammonia chemistry that
3:20allows for nicotine to be more rapidly
3:23absorbed in the lungs and therefore
3:25affect the brain and central nervous
3:26system and then there are these
3:28documents thousands of pages of
3:30confidential scientific reports and
3:32legal memoranda from B&W s secret files
3:36which experts say support dr. wagons
3:39claim that brown & williamson's
3:40executives have had strong reason to
3:43believe all along that nicotine is
3:45addictive and that their tobacco
3:47products cause cancer and other diseases
3:49most of these documents had been locked
3:52away in B&W x' lawyers confidential
3:54files in louisville kentucky until this
3:57man the paralegal in that law office
3:59Meryl Williams walked off with it the
4:01documents found their way to dr. Stanton
4:04glance a professor of medicine at the
4:06University of California Medical Center
4:08in San Francisco it was dr. glance and a
4:11team of scientists from the University
4:13who wrote about the documents this past
4:15summer in a series of articles in the
4:17Journal of the American Medical
4:18Association what is the story
4:21that the documents told you they told me
4:24that 30 years ago Brown & Williamson and
4:26British American Tobacco its parent knew
4:28nicotine was an addictive drug and they
4:31knew smoking caused cancer and other
4:32diseases and dr. grant says these
4:35documents reveal how Brown & Williamson
4:37was keeping that knowledge from the
4:39public and they also developed very
4:41sophisticated legal strategies to keep
4:44this information away from the public to
4:46keep this information away from public
4:48health authorities dr. Wigand said that
4:51a cigarette is basically a nicotine
4:54delivery instrument that's what it's
4:56really all about yes absolutely and they
4:59in the documents they say that over and
5:01over and over again and finding a way to
5:04deliver that nicotine to the smokers
5:06brain without exposing smokers to
5:08disease-causing pollutants like tower
5:10that come with tobacco smoke is one
5:13reason says doctor why can't that he was
5:15hired by B&W on january 1st 1989 they
5:20were looking to reduce the hazards
5:21within cigarette reduce the costs and
5:24genetic components or listed carcinogens
5:27that are within the tobacco products
5:29they talked about carcinogens - talked
5:33about carcinogens they talked about
5:34cancer and heart disease and emphysema
5:36and all of those dogs and they were
5:38going to work toward making a safer
5:40cigarette you must have been very
5:42excited I was enthusiastic and energetic
5:45in terms of pursuing that dr. Jeffrey
5:47Wigand with the doctorate in
5:49biochemistry had spent nearly 20 years
5:51working in the healthcare and
5:53biotechnology industries he says his
5:55goal at B&W was to make a cigarette that
5:58would be less likely to cause disease
6:00people will continue to smoke no matter
6:02what no matter what kind of regulations
6:05if you can't provide for those who are
6:07smoking and who need to smoke something
6:11that produces less risks for them I
6:13thought I was going to be making a
6:15difference Brown & Williamson may Jeff
6:18Wiegand vice president for R&D paying
6:20him more than three hundred thousand
6:22dollars a year in salary and perks and I
6:25was very inquisitive when I came on have
6:26you ever done any nicotine studies have
6:28you done any pharmacology studies have
6:30you done any biological studies have you
6:33looked at the effect
6:34of nicotine on the central nervous
6:35system and always in general
6:38categorically no we don't do that kind
6:40of work but according to those thousands
6:43of pages from B&W and its parent british
6:46american tobacco x' confidential files
6:48the company had in fact done exactly
6:50those kinds of studies dr. Wigand says
6:53he did not suspect there was anything
6:55wrong until he attended a meeting of
6:57scientists who work for british american
7:00tobacco companies from around the world
7:02dr. Wigand says that his colleagues
7:04talked about working together to develop
7:07a safer a less hazardous cigarette the
7:10cigarette less likely to cause disease
7:12but when it came time to write up their
7:14ideas to create a documentary record of
7:17their discussion BMW's lawyers
7:20intervened the minutes that came in were
7:24roughly about 18 pages long obscure but
7:26I knew it was in the content that they
7:28were rewritten by Kendrick Wells where
7:31who's he Kendrick wells was one of the
7:34staff attorneys at BMW and he rewrote
7:38the minutes of the meeting he rewrote
7:40the minutes of the meeting he edited out
7:42the discussions on safer cigarette and
7:45basically toned the meeting down for
7:47saying that one of the staff attorneys
7:49for B&W here in the United States whose
7:53name was Kendrick Wells an attorney
7:56rewrote the minutes of this research
7:59meeting with all of the research heads
8:01of v80 industries as correct in order to
8:04sanitize it in a sense sanitizer as well
8:07as reduce any type of exposure
8:09associated with discussing a safer
8:11cigarette when you say you haven't have
8:13a safest cigarette mm-hm if that now
8:17takes everything else that you have
8:19available and say it's unsafe and that
8:21from a product liability point of view
8:23gave the lawyers great concern Kendrick
8:26Wells the lawyer dr. Wigand says deleted
8:29materials from the minutes of the
8:30scientific meeting is now the assistant
8:32general counsel of B&W why would BMW
8:37lawyers like Kendrick Wells be so
8:39concerned
8:40according to BMWs own confidential files
8:43any evidence any documents that show any
8:47BMW tobacco
8:48product like cools or viceroys might be
8:51unsafe those documents would have to be
8:54produced in court as part of any lawsuit
8:56filed by a smoker or his surviving
8:59family and according to the lawyers
9:01those documents could be disastrous for
9:03B&W so the lawyers took hold the lawyers
9:06intervened and then a purge documents
9:08every time there was reference to a word
9:11less hazardous or safer but dr. Wigand
9:14says the lawyers interference they're
9:16editing and review of his reports did
9:18not stop him and I started asking more
9:20probing questions and I started digging
9:23deeper and deeper as I dug deeper and
9:25deeper I started getting a bodyguard
9:28what do you mean body goes I went to a
9:29meeting I now is accompanied by a lawyer
9:31my bodyguard was Kendrick Wells
9:33frustrated by the lawyers intervention
9:35and presence at majors scientific
9:37meetings dr. Watkins says he took his
9:40complaints to Thomas Sandifer then the
9:42president of vnw what'd he say to you I
9:44don't want to hear any more discussion
9:46about a safer cigarette Andy says Thomas
9:49Sandiford went on to tell him we pursue
9:51a safer cigarette it would put us at
9:53extreme exposure with every other
9:55product I don't want to hear about any
9:56more all the people who were dying from
9:59cigarettes essentially yes
10:02cancer cancer heart disease things of
10:04that nature Zimmer lawyers representing
10:07B&W and Thomas Sandefur have said that
10:10all this as well as other accounts of
10:12conversations with Thomas Sandefur are
10:15absolutely false we asked dr. Wigand
10:18what his reaction was to what he says
10:20was sandiford's decision to abandon the
10:22safer cigarette I would say I got angry
10:24he was your boss I bit my tongue
10:27I had just transitioned from one company
10:30to another I was paid well it was
10:33comfortable and for me to do anything
10:36precipitous would put my family at risk
10:40you were happy to take down the three
10:42hundred thousand bucks a year I
10:44essentially took the money I did my job
10:47so dr. Wigand abandoned his idea of
10:50trying to develop a new and safer
10:52cigarette he turned his attention to
10:54investigating the attitudes the
10:56flavorings the other compounds in B&W
10:58tobacco products many like glycerol
11:01which
11:02used to keep the tobacco and cigarettes
11:03moist are normally harmless but when
11:06glycerol is burned in a cigarette its
11:09chemistry changes glycerol one is burnt
11:12forms a very specific substance called
11:16acrolein according to the American
11:19Council on science and health act rollin
11:21or a crow lien is extremely irritating
11:24it has been shown to interfere with the
11:26normal clearing of the lungs recent
11:28research shows that a crow lien acts
11:30like a carcinogen though not yet
11:32classified as such and dr. Wigand says
11:35that B&W continues to add glycerol to
11:38their products but it was another
11:40attitude that dr. Wigand says led to the
11:43end of his career at B&W the straw that
11:46broke the the camel's back for me and
11:48really put me in trouble with Sandifer
11:50was a compound called Qumran coumarin is
11:54a flavoring that provides a sweet taste
11:56of tobacco products but is known to
11:58cause tumors in the livers of mice it
12:01was removed from B&W cigarettes but
12:03according to these documents B&W
12:05continued to use it in its Sir Walter
12:08Raleigh aromatic pipe tobacco until at
12:10least 1992 and when I came on board VW
12:14they had tried to transition from Qumran
12:17to another similar flavor that would
12:20give the same taste and it was
12:23unsuccessful dr. Wigand says the news
12:26about Qumran and cancer got worse this
12:29report by independent researchers part
12:32of a national toxic safety programme
12:34presented evidence that coumarin is a
12:37carcinogen that causes various cancers I
12:40wanted it out immediately and I was told
12:42that it would affect sales and that was
12:45to my my own business and I and I
12:46constructed a memo to mr. Sandifer
12:50indicating that I could not in conscious
12:53continue with coumarin a product that we
12:56now know I have documentation that is
12:59lung specific carcinogen
13:05set the document forward to Xandar I
13:07sent a document forward to Sandiford I
13:09was told that that we would continue
13:11working on a substitute and we weren't
13:15gonna remove it to us would impact sales
13:16and that's that was his decision in
13:18other words what you're charging
13:20Sandifer with and Brown & Williamson
13:22with is ignoring health considerations
13:25consciously most certainly after his
13:30confrontations over coumarin dr. Wigand
13:32says he was not surprised when on March
13:35the 24th 1993 Thomas Sandiford newly
13:39promoted to chief executive officer CEO
13:41of B&W had him fired and the reason for
13:45firing that he gave him poor
13:51communication skills just not cutting it
13:56poor performance when dr. Wigand who has
14:00a wife and two young daughters was fired
14:02by Brown & Williamson tobacco his
14:04contract provided severance pay and
14:07critical health benefits for his family
14:09critical because one of his children
14:11requires expensive daily health care
14:14several months after he was fired B&W
14:17decided to sue their former head of R&D
14:19and they cut off his severance and those
14:22vital health benefits they said I
14:25violated my confidentiality by
14:27discussing my severance package
14:29the creature wagon says that the firing
14:31and B&W suspension of benefits was
14:34devastating we almost lost our family as
14:37a unit Jeff and I was separated why
14:41because he was under so much stress and
14:45stopped so much pressure that it was
14:48something that we needed help dealing
14:50with we went to counseling and we've
14:53worked through it and this was you think
14:56started triggered by the business with
14:57B&W yes I know it was B&W settled that
15:02lawsuit we mentioned and reinstated
15:05those critical health benefits only
15:06after dr. Wigand agreed to sign a new
15:09stricter lifelong confidentiality
15:12agreement nonetheless word of doctor
15:14wagons battles with Brown & Williamson
15:16attracted attention in Washington
15:18we're in the spring of 1994 a Democratic
15:20Congress and the FDA the Food and Drug
15:22Administration were investigating the
15:25tobacco industry dr. Wigand was
15:27contacted by their investigators and
15:29after notifying Brown & Williamson he
15:31talked with those investigators shortly
15:34afterward he was stunned by a couple of
15:37anonymous telephone calls and in April
15:391994 two separate occasions I had life
15:44threats on my kids what we had life
15:48threats on my kids doctor wagon told us
15:50he doesn't know where they came from but
15:52that understandably they frightened him
15:53he described the threats by referring to
15:56his diary a male voice that was on the
15:59phone that said don't mess with tobacco
16:02anymore how are your kids then on April
16:0528th around 3 o'clock in the afternoon
16:09relatively the same voice it says leave
16:12tobacco alone or else you'll find your
16:15kids hurt there are pretty girls now so
16:19I got scared I started carrying a gun
16:23really yeah
16:25started carrying a handgun someone
16:26called and threatened to kill him and to
16:32hurt the family if he messed with the
16:35tobacco industry that was last August
16:38now in February Lucretia weigand has
16:41filed for divorce citing spousal abuse
16:44just one of the accusations Brown &
16:46Williamson is using in their full
16:48throated campaign to discredit Jeffrey
16:51Wigand the story will continue after
16:54this
16:59today three years after he was fired by
17:02Brown & Williamson dr. Jeffrey Wigand is
17:04the star witness in a US Justice
17:07Department criminal investigation into
17:09the tobacco industry which includes the
17:11question of whether B&W s former CEO
17:13lied to the US Congress when he said
17:16that he believed that nicotine was not
17:17addictive
17:18but dr. Wigand is paying a heavy price
17:20for his decision to testify as well as
17:23for breaking his confidentiality
17:25agreement by talking to us his family
17:28life has been shattered his reputation
17:30has been tarnished because of B&W s
17:32massive campaign designed to silence him
17:36and to discredit this former research
17:38chief turned whistleblower there trying
17:41to do what they can to paint you as
17:45irresponsible a liar well I think the
17:49word they've used Mike is a master of
17:51deceit you wish it hadn't come forward
17:53you wish you hadn't blown the whistle
17:59there are times I wish I hadn't done it
18:02but there are times that I feel
18:04compelled to do it
18:10if you asked me if I would do it again
18:13or if it but I think it's worth it yeah
18:16I think it's worth it
18:19I think in the end people will see the
18:22truth well these three men have seen the
18:26same truth as Wiegand they are the state
18:28Attorneys General of Florida Minnesota
18:31and Mississippi where dr. Wigand is
18:34testifying in a multi-billion dollar
18:36lawsuit against the tobacco industry
18:38Mike Moore is Attorney General of
18:40Mississippi Jeffrey's testimony is going
18:42to be devastating Mike to the tobacco
18:44industry so devastating then I fear for
18:47his life
18:47I think series I'm I'm very serious
18:52the information that Jeffrey has I think
18:54is the most important information that
18:56has ever come out against the tobacco
18:57industry this industry in my opinion is
19:01an industry who has perpetrated the
19:02biggest fraud on the American public in
19:04history they have lied to the American
19:07public for years and years they have
19:09killed millions and millions of people
19:11and made a profit on it
19:13so I hope that they won't continue to
19:17lie and try to destroy Jeffrey like to
19:19destroy the other lives of people all
19:21over this country the campaign to
19:23destroy dr. Jeffrey Wigand began over
19:25two months ago in the midst of a media
19:27frenzy over our failure to broadcast our
19:30August interview with him brown &
19:33williamson's sued dr. wagon for talking
19:35to us despite his confidentiality
19:36agreement and they got a court order in
19:39Kentucky to try to silence him from
19:41speaking out further then investigators
19:44hired by B&W fanned out across the
19:47country looking for anything they could
19:48use to discredit the whistleblower they
19:52then go around to my family my friends
19:54digging up and dig in here and dig in
19:56there then their lawyers and BMW has a
19:59half dozen major firms working on the
20:01jeff wagon case their lawyers compiled
20:04the results of their nationwide dragnet
20:06into a summary that alleges that in
20:08recent years dr. Wigand pled guilty to
20:11everything from wife-beating to
20:12shoplifting beyond that they charged him
20:15with a multitude of sins from fudging
20:17his resume to making a false claim three
20:19years ago for 95 dollars and 20 cents
20:22for dry cleaning
20:24then Brown & Williamson retained John
20:26Scanlan to get their story to the media
20:29Scanlon is a fixture of the New York
20:32media scene who has close personal
20:34relationships with print and television
20:36reporters and producers as well as
20:38editors and publishers we asked him to
20:41sit down and discuss the charges he has
20:43been circulating to me and other
20:44reporters but he declined but Scanlon
20:47did make this statement to a CBS News
20:49camera crew he's running the
20:52cross-examination
20:56his victims have decided to respond and
21:00present evidence that he is in fact
21:02habitual liar the smear campaign it's
21:05been very systematic very organized very
21:09well done my background is I have a PhD
21:13in biochemistry today dr. Wigand is a
21:16$30,000 a year science teacher at a
21:18Louisville Kentucky public high school
21:21and his students his faculty colleagues
21:23and his family were stunned last month
21:26when a Louisville television station
21:28broadcast some of brown & williamson's
21:30accusations
21:31court records show wagon was charged
21:34with theft by unlawful taking and
21:36shoplifting then the Brown & Williamson
21:38500-page dossier on Wiegand was given to
21:41the Wall Street Journal who investigated
21:43the charges and last Thursday in this
21:46front-page story the journal reported
21:49that quote a close look at the file and
21:52independent research by this newspaper
21:54into its key claims indicates that many
21:56of the serious allegations against dr.
21:58Wigand are backed by scanty or
22:01contradictory evidence and they
22:03continued quote some of the charges
22:05including that he pleaded guilty to
22:07shoplifting are demonstrably untrue we
22:10put that journal statement to Gordon
22:12Smith an attorney designated by Brown &
22:15Williamson to talk to us The Wall Street
22:17Journal went through all of that
22:19material it says that what the dossier
22:22that you put together scant evidence mr.
22:25Wallace that's dead wrong there's not
22:27scant evidence The Wall Street Journal
22:29did not did not go over these scores
22:33literally scores of untruths
22:36told by Jeff wag and that we show too
22:38and Gordon Smith went on at some length
22:40to say that why games like that is a
22:44pattern of lies well I don't understand
22:46frankly mr. Smith I really don't
22:49understand Brown & Williamson must be in
22:51a panic if they're going after this man
22:54and hard as you are you're wrong there
22:57are no material inaccuracies in that
23:00book none whatsoever but not included in
23:03that dossier were brown & williamson's
23:05own personnel records which showed that
23:07Wiegand had received good performance
23:10appraisals for the first three years
23:11from B&W in his fourth year however
23:14those appraisals turns
23:16but despite that even after he was fired
23:19he received this letter from brown &
23:22williamson's personnel director to whom
23:24it may concern
23:25dr. Jeffrey Wigand was instrumental in
23:27the development of new products as well
23:28as the major impetus behind a
23:30significant upgrade in our R&D technical
23:33capabilities both in terms of people and
23:35equipment during his tenure at Brown &
23:37Williamson dr. Wigand demonstrated a
23:40high level of technical knowledge and
23:42expertise and this is on your own
23:45stationery your own man saying bad about
23:49it Mike Brown & Williamson refused to be
23:52a reference for Jeff why again after he
23:53left this letter was negotiated with his
23:56attorney and it was the only statement
23:58Brown Williamson would ever make about
23:59him because Brown Williamson did not
24:01want to be a reference for Jeff Wiegand
24:03and mr. Smith had this to say about our
24:06relationship with Jeffrey Wigand your
24:08being led along by a guy who's not
24:10believable you're getting half the story
24:12you and you've got you've got a vested
24:16interest in making this man credible why
24:19do we have a CBS his interest hey this
24:21guy $12,000 what I believe for
24:24consulting no wait just a moment
24:26let's get this straight paid him $12,000
24:29for what to consult on a story for CBS
24:33for the record as we explained to mr.
24:35Smith 60 minutes did in fact hire dr.
24:38Wigand two years ago directors our
24:40expert consultant to analyze nearly a
24:43thousand pages of technical documents
24:45leaked to us not from Brown & Williamson
24:47but from inside and Philip Morris
24:49another tobacco company at that time dr.
24:52wagon told us he would not talk with us
24:54about Brown & Williamson and he did not
24:56until over a year later I felt an
24:59obligation to tell the truth there were
25:02things I saw there were things I learned
25:04there was things I observed that I felt
25:06that need to be told
25:08focus continues to be on what I would
25:11call systematic and aggressive tactics
25:15to undermine my credibility and my some
25:18of my personal life but you expected
25:21that didn't you I didn't expect to the
25:23extent that it's happened okay it's it's
25:25disrupted not only my life I'm in
25:27divorce proceedings now
25:29these three state attorneys generals say
25:31that no matter what B&W accusations are
25:34they remain convinced that what Wiegand
25:36has to say about the tobacco industry in
25:38general and Brown & Williamson in
25:40particular is thoroughly credible and
25:42they are suing the tobacco industry for
25:45the billions of dollars in state
25:46Medicaid costs their states have paid to
25:49treat people who have become ill from
25:51smoking Minnesota Attorney General
25:53Hubert Humphrey the third we want to see
25:55the full truth come out we want the
25:58deception and fraud and the violations
26:00of our state laws stopped and we want
26:02people that are making the money on this
26:05product to bear the full cost of the
26:08health care burden that is there Bob
26:12Butterworth is the Attorney General of
26:14Florida the issue has been deceived
26:16deceit pure and simple deceit the
26:20cigarette companies made a decision that
26:24they were withhold valuable information
26:26from the American public information
26:30that the consumer would need to make a
26:33an intelligent decision as to what not
26:36they wish to smoke or not to smoke again
26:39Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore
26:41I'm used to dealing with with cocaine
26:43dealers and crack dealers and I have
26:47never seen damage done like the tobacco
26:50company has done there's no comparison
26:53cocaine kills 1015 thousand people a
26:55year in this country
26:57tobacco kills 425 thousand people a year
27:00Mike it's absurd to suggest that tobacco
27:03is anyway like cocaine in terms of
27:06addiction it's absolutely absurd to
27:08suggest that Brandon williamson makes a
27:10lawful product they sell it and make it
27:13in a lawful way well then why the four
27:15hundred and twenty five thousand people
27:17die every year according to all medical
27:22and scientific evaluations died of
27:25smoking cigarettes why Mike 50 million
27:27people choose to use tobacco and smoke
27:31so on a cost-benefit ratio it's only
27:35four hundred and twenty five thousand
27:37people who die out of the 50 million no
27:39that's that's a small fraction is that
27:41the point you're making no more
27:42not at all people choose to smoke people
27:45choose to stop smoking I think you used
27:47to smoke and you chose to stops month
27:49right it's their choice it's a lawful
27:51product it's marketed and manufactured
27:54lawfully BMW has question doctor wagons
27:57character but he says that's just a
27:59smokescreen and he has some questions
28:01for Brown & Williamson
28:03why don't they deal with the issue
28:04whether they can develop her a safer
28:06cigarette
28:07why don't they deal with the issue of
28:09using knowingly using additives that are
28:13known to be carcinogenic nor not the
28:16influence sales why don't we deal with
28:18that issue Brown & Williamson did answer
28:21some of dr. Jeffery wagons question for
28:23us they told us they have removed
28:25coumarin let's carcinogenic flavoring
28:28from there Sir Walter Raleigh aromatic
28:30pipe tobacco but they insisted never
28:32posed a health risk to smokers B&W
28:35lawyer Kendrick Wells declined to talk
28:37to us but he did deny in testimony last
28:39week doctor wagons charged that he had
28:41altered the minutes of that scientific
28:43meeting and B&W says the truth will come
28:46out in the end when they get a chance to
28:49cross-examine dr. Wigand under oath and
28:51they insist that we CVS cannot report on
28:55this story objectively since we are
28:57indemnifying dr. Wigand in BMWs lawsuit
29:01against him two months ago CVS agreed to
29:04do that
29:04after a leak resulted in the disclosure
29:06of dr. wagons identity before he was
29:09prepared to go public though still
29:12unaware of where that leak had come from
29:14CBS decided to take financial
29:16responsibility for the impact that
29:18League had on dr. Wigand because it
29:21exposed him to a lawsuit by Brown &
29:23Williamson a footnote this banner
29:26headline yesterday in the Louisville
29:28courier-journal B&W hometown newspaper
29:31about charges their employers had
29:33engaged in smuggling and bribes in
29:35Louisiana in that story the US attorney
29:38in New Orleans says look for some
29:40indictments in the very near future

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