December 10, 1998
Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150
SmithKline Beecham To Pay $2.5 Million To Settle Allegations
TALLAHASSEE -- The maker of a smoking cessation patch and gum will pay $2.5 million to settle allegations that it used deceptive advertising, including a false characterization of its relationship with the American Cancer Society, to sell its products, Attorney General Bob Butterworth announced today.
Florida and 11 other states will share equally in payments by SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare of $1.9 million to fund anti-smoking initiatives and $600,000 to cover investigative costs.
"SmithKline Beecham made claims of effectiveness for its NicoDerm CQ patch and Nicorette gum that the company could not substantiate," Butterworth said. "In addition, the company led consumers to believe its products were endorsed by the American Cancer Society when in fact they were not."
Specific misrepresentations cited by the states included:
The use of the American Cancer Society logo and the phrase "Partners in Helping You Quit" to suggest that the nonprofit organization had endorsed the products when it had merely allowed SmithKline Beecham to display its name and logo in exchange for a fee.
Claims by SmithKline Beecham that its smoking cessation products were more effective than those of another manufacturer when the company could not scientifically demonstrate such superiority.
Claims that consumers would be able to quite smoking permanently using NicoDerm CQ and Nicorette when in fact the majority of consumers who initially quit smoking using such products resume smoking after one year.
Butterworth commended the American Cancer Society for cooperating with the investigation and also for discontinuing its practice of entering into exclusive marketing relationships such as the one it had entered with SmithKline Beecham.
"The good names of such respected organizations as the American Cancer Society hold special currency with the consuming public," he said. "When they are misused, the risk of deceiving consumers into making false assumptions about a product's worth is enormous."
Joining Florida in the agreement with SmithKline Beecham are Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin.
The agreement was handled for Florida by Chief of Multi-State Litigation Jack Norris.