Dutch campaigners plan criminal complaint against Philip Morris over heated tobacco

Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd, chaired by former lung specialist Wanda de Kanter, says it will submit the complaint to Dutch prosecutors in mid-November. It accuses Philip Morris of misleading consumers and breaking advertising restrictions for its heated-tobacco product.

The complaint concerns IQOS, a system that heats tobacco rather than burning it. The foundation says Philip Morris presents the product as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes while leaving out worrying findings from independent research.

Philip Morris says IQOS is less harmful than smoking because heating tobacco releases lower concentrations of toxic substances, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS. The Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment says heated-tobacco products are harmful and are not a safe alternative to smoking.

Lawyer Bénédicte Ficq told NOS that the planned complaint also targets company executives and scientists who support Philip Morris’s health claims. She prepared it with lawyers Sjoerd Lopik and Lisette van der Linde.

The foundation says organisations including cancer charity KWF Kankerbestrijding, the Lung Fund and the Heart Foundation have pledged their support.

The group and Ficq previously filed a complaint against tobacco manufacturers in 2016, but it did not lead to a prosecution. A court held that regulation of the tobacco industry was a matter for politics rather than a criminal case. Ficq says the new complaint is based on breaches of existing rules.