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A former tobacco company researcher told a federal judge on Wednesday he believed he was denied a promotion in the 1980s over concerns he would testify about the dangers of smoking in a sick-smoker lawsuit. Appearing for the government in its $280 billion suit against cigarette makers, William Farone said he believed he failed to become vice president for research because he could have been asked if cigarettes were addictive and caused lung cancer. Farone said he would have had to agree if asked to testify in the 1983 lawsuit brought by dying New Jersey smoker Rose Cipollone, contradicting Philip Morris' position at the time. Farone said in pre-written testimony before U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler that the major tobacco companies "have long understood" that cigarettes were addictive. Tobacco companies "continue to obfuscate the science and technology of cigarettes and cigarette smoke," Farone wrote. They also failed to follow through on technologies that could have led to less harmful cigarettes, he charged. [more

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