Master Settlement Agreement

This article is part of the Health Portal project of Spinwatch.

The Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) was one of the outcomes of years of litigation in the American courts against powerful tobacco companies and their affiliated organisations. From 1998 The MSA made internal tobacco industry documents publically available. The documents are from seven cigarette companies and two industry funded organisations. The documents include letters, fax and memos between company scientists, lawyers, senior executives, and other organisations. The WHO produced a manual that aimed to help researchers, public health professionals and journalists to use the material as it gives a valuable insight into the workings of big tobacco.

Alcohol

This article is part of the Spinwatch public health oriented Alcohol Portal project.

The archive of tobacco industry documents can also be used to uncover connections between tobacco and other industries, the alcohol industry since the 1980s has tried ot distance itself from tobacco publically, however there is evidence contained within the archive of a relationship between the two industries. Furthermore Philip Morris for a time also had alcohol companies wihtin its' portfolio enabling a team of researchers access to otherwise unavalable alcohol industry documents in order to explore parallels between the industries.

Organisations Covered by MSA

• Philip Morris Incorporated,
• R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
• Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation
• British American Tobacco
• Lorillard Tobacco Company
• American Tobacco Company
• Liggett Group
• Tobacco Institute
• Council for Tobacco Research