Newly released graphic warnings for packages of cigarettes were revealed today by the Food and Drug Administration, highlighting the dangers of using the product.
The graphic images, which range from mouth cancer to birth defects, will be displayed on packages beginning Sept. 2012, according to news reports. The warnings are the first change to labels in 25 years.
Messages include “Warning: Cigarettes are addictive” with a photo of a man smoking a cigarette through his throat. Also, “Warning: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby” is beside a picture of a baby struggling to survive.
“These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking and they will help encourage smokers to quit, and prevent children from smoking,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a press release. “President Obama wants to make tobacco-related death and disease part of the nation’s past, and not our future.”
Smoking is responsible for 443,000 deaths every year, and the rates of fatalities have steadied in the past 5 years.
As a personal injury lawyer in Columbia, I hope that people are discouraged to smoke and fewer deaths due to smoking cigarettes will result from this campaign. If you or a loved one were harmed by an unsafe product, discuss your case with a personal injury lawyer in Columbia who can evaluate your claim, assess your case, and answer any important legal questions you may have regarding your case.
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