Cigarette chief is butt of criticism

William Atkins
Saturday, 14 May 2011 23:30

Science - Health

The head of cigarette-maker Philip Morris told an anti-cigarette nurse at the company's annual meeting, held on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, that cigarettes are harmful and addictive but not that hard to quit. Oh, isn't that interesting!

The chairman of the board and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Philip Morris International is Louis C. Camilleri. He became the CEO in April 2002 when Philip Morris was spun off from the Altria Group. Philip Morris owns about half of the U.S. cigarette market.

Camilleri, a long-time smoker of cigarettes, stated, "We take our responsibility very seriously, and I don't think we get enough recognition for the efforts we make to ensure that there is effective worldwide regulation of a product that is harmful and that is addictive. Nevertheless, whilst it is addictive, it is not that hard to quit. ... There are more previous smokers in America today than current smokers." [Associated Press: 'Philip Morris Int. CEO: Cigs not that hard to quit']

His comments came at the company's annual shareholder meeting in New York City. It was in response to Elisabeth Gundersen, a nurse and a member of the group The Nightingales Nurses.

The group is an activist group whose goal is to publicize the dangers of tobacco and, especially, the extreme dangers within the tobacco industry. Gundersen is also associated with the University of California at San Francisco.

At his job, Philip Morris CEO Camilleri made, in 2008, a total compensation of approximately $32,028,923. Nurse Gundersen, although the figure is unknown, is assumed to have made much less.

Gundersen told the Philip Morris CEO that tobacco products kill more than 400,000 Americans each year and five million people worldwide annually. That must have been one lively debate (confrontation?) between Gundersen and Camilleri!

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