That cool, throat-numbing sensation some smokers find in their cigarettes could go the way of other products the federal government has deemed dangerous. Menthol, a natural compound found in the mint plant, soothes sunburns, tempers coughs and helps tame an achy tummy, but on cigarettes, some health experts argue, it’s a ruse. It makes the poison that is tobacco go down more smoothly, tricking the youngest and most foolhardy smokers. Last year, Congress passed far-reaching tobacco regulations that, among other things, banned chocolate- or strawberry-flavored cigarettes, saying they lured kids to smoke by dressing up cigarettes as candy.
But Congress passed on regulating menthol cigarettes, which account for one-third of cigarettes sold in the United States. Instead, it called for a study and more discussion by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA took the debate to Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday, when big tobacco executives met public health officials in a conference room at the Marriot Hotel downtown to discuss the new law on cigarettes and how the FDA would go about enforcing it.

Outside, dozens of workers from Greensboro, N.C., who make their living manning machines that make menthol-laced cigarettes, paced in the bitter cold. For Lorillard Tobacco workers, who produce Newport cigarettes, menthol is an ingredient that makes their brand pop with flavor, and those cigarettes have been their ticket to a middle class life.

“This is about my livelihood. I’ve got responsibilities,” said Darsey Campbell, who has logged 40 years at Lorillard Tobacco, cleaning and servicing equipment. “We have to worry when the government starts messing with one more thing. Don’t they have enough to do?”

The conundrum for federal officials is clear: Cigarettes are bad; jobs are good. Can there be a winner?

“Undeniably, this is a very controversial issue with a lot of moving parts,” said Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the FDA.

With cigarettes, the federal government is now engaged in an awkward dance. On one hand, America needs jobs more than ever, and government officials want to avoid jeopardizing the product, and market share, of a major U.S. manufacturer. Cigarette makers who use menthol insist that banning menthol will simply push production overseas or into an unregulated black market.

But the government also doesn’t want people to smoke; it is the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the U.S. Smoking attacks the lungs, making smokers prone to chronic sickness and heavily reliant on health care. The FDA is adamant about not wanting kids to pick up a cigarette and start the habit.

Public health officials want cigarettes to taste as bad as they are for a smoker’s health, and menthol undermines that. The product, which can be made synthetically, tempers the burn cigarettes bring to the throat. If kids feel that burn, they may never pick up another cigarette, some health officials argue. Studies show that the biggest consumers of menthol cigarettes are young people and members of minority groups.

Campbell, the Lorillard worker, smokes Newports flavored with menthol. She has almost all her life and wants government to stay out of her business.

“I’m grown. It’s my choice,” she said.

Campbell’s biggest concern, though, isn’t her smoking habit but rather her job. She’s one of about 2,000 people working for Lorillard in Greensboro, where generations of families have found jobs that pay enough for them to buy homes and take care of their families.

Lorillard executives won’t predict what would become of the Greensboro plant should the FDA ban menthol in cigarettes. The company just started making a menthol-free Newport last month, but it’s too soon to say whether it will catch on, said Bob Bannon, Lorillard’s director of investor relations.

Lorillard’s corner of the cigarette market depends on menthol, which workers spray on tobacco before rolling it in paper. They make a third of the menthol cigarettes sold in the U.S., accounting for about 10 percent of the total cigarette market.

“It’s tough to say what impact we’ll feel,” Bannon said. “We’re trying to measure what adult smokers’ reaction would be in the scenario that it disappears. We just don’t know, but we think the number of people who would quit altogether would be low.”

FDA officials say they are a long way from having an answer to the menthol question. And they may simply decide to not answer it. Congress obliged them to study, and scientists have been meeting to do just that. A report is due to the FDA in March, but after that, there are no deadlines or expectations.

“The FDA has made no statements about potentially banning menthol,” said Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.

Campbell and about 30 of her co-workers didn’t want to take chances. Outside the Marriot on Wednesday, they pushed signs into the air, reminding tobacco executives and FDA officials that they, too, have a stake in the future of menthol in cigarettes.

THE POWER OF MENTHOL

Menthol has been commonly used to flavor cigarettes since the 1950s. About 30 percent of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. contain menthol. A third of those are made by Lorillard Tobacco in Greensboro, N.C., which produces Newport cigarettes.

Scientists have reported that menthol dulls the senses and makes smoking easier for new smokers and harder for regular smokers to quit.

How does menthol do it?

-Soothes the respiratory tract

-Masks harshness of smoke

-Anesthetizes the throat

-Tastes good

-Increases production of saliva

A new attack against cigarettes started, this time against menthol cigarettes and all flavored tobacco products. The attack comes from the journal Addiction which issued a supplement comprising of various studies on the effects of menthol flavored cigarettes on consumers. They showed the fact that menthol cigarettes are mostly used by African Americans and young adults and that surprisingly it is harder to quit menthol cigarettes than non flavored ones.

The advertising industry around menthol cigarettes tends to make you forget that they are after all still cigarettes, though they smell and taste better, Dr.Kola Okuyemi, senior editor of the supplement emphasized. This special supplement was funded by the national cancer Institute and has led to an investigation from the U.S Food and Drug Administration.

This newly started war against menthol cigarettes is the result of a law suit filled by the son of an African-American woman against cigarette manufacturer Lorillard Inc for the death of his mother due to menthol cigarettes. Because of a strong marketing campaign which included free menthol giveaways to children, he stated, his mother became a menthol addict at the age of 9.It seems that indeed the tobacco industry has strongly promoted menthol cigarettes especially to minorities.

The public health organization strongly feels that this too is an argument in the battle to ban menthol from the market.

As a response to this banning campaign Lorillard tries to prove through materials posted on their website that menthol cigarettes do not harm people more than non flavored cigarettes do. There is no scientific proof to support their theory, Lorillard declares.

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“During the winter of 2008 I developed some serious breathing problems. The very cold and dry air during January and February made it extremely difficult for me to breathe.” said Jon. “Among other things it was nearly impossible for me to sleep and this was impacting my work performance and attendance.”

“I smoked cigarettes for over 20 years. In the end it was over two packs a day. If you smoke and you have breathing problems you have to be pretty delusional not to understand what the root of the problem is. So, I decided I had to stop smoking tobacco cigarettes.”

“I was actually going to just get the patch and try to make it work. My wife suggested electronic cigarettes.” He went on to say. “Being a guy and a techno geek, I love electronic gadgets so this really caught my attention. So I researched the products available and ordered a kit.”

At first, he was extremely disappointed. He quickly realized that the first e-cigarette he tried was not offering him the release from smoking he had hoped for. He was getting closer and closer to going back to tobacco. He decided that he would try another manufacturer’s offer. Then another…and another.

“I figured there must be a better device out there and I needed to find it right then and there! I came across a very good vendor that sold a version of the KR808D two piece electronic cigarette system. As soon as I tried this device, I felt relaxed, calm and was invigorated with a new sense of confidence that I could get off the analogs for good. I never looked back and have been tobacco free from that day forward.”

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“When my husband decided that he needed to stop smoking tobacco last year, I didn’t want to stop at all. After all, I no longer smoked very often” Jenni said. “He convinced me that in order for him to be successful I had to stop smoking too. So, on September 20th 2009, I became a non-smoker. It was the best decision I could’ve made. Our experience was a partial inspiration for the creation of our Ultimate Couples Starter Kit.”

Of course, the story gets better. While Jon found the perfect electronic cigarette delivery device, he was still not entirely happy with the flavors he was able to get. “Back to the drawing board” he said. “Now, I had to become an expert at e-liquid and flavor extracts.”

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Check out our Flavor Navigator today and see all 18 flavors that PrimeVapor has for the discriminating electronic cigarette user.

About Primevapor.com:

Primevapor is a manufacturer and distributor of quality electronic cigarette supplies and equipment. They have developed an e-cigarette system that offers a smoker who wants an alternative to traditional tobacco the ultimate smoking experience without the smoke, smell and tar.

Anyone that has been around small children is sure to have noticed that if something looks like candy, a child will try to eat it. Imagine that if a child found a “candy” that was the approximate size of a Tic Tac, having mint or cinnamon flavoring and ate 10 or more of these little things, the child’s curiosity may prove fatal.

This is a probable scenario with the creation and marketing of Camel Orbs, a novelty tobacco pellet. This edible, dissolvable cigarette alternative is a new and reckless method to draw in a younger age group of tobacco addicts.

J.R. Reynolds Tobacco, the second largest tobacco company in the nation is marking these flavored, candy-like cigarette alternatives that are sure to be a gate to life-long nicotine addiction.

“Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics” released a research study revealing the effects of Camel Orbs on children, the audience to which the product is seemingly directed.

With artificial flavoring and the size similarity to candy, small children could easily ingest Camel Orbs and the medical results can be shocking. According to the medical journal “Pediatrics,” the consequences of infant ingestion of Camel Orbs are “weakness, convulsions, unresponsiveness, and impaired respiration and ultimately may lead to death.”

A spokesman from the J. R. Reynolds Tobacco company, David Howard, argued to the New York Times that the products were, in fact marketed to adults and come in child-resistant containers.

That measure is a good try, but falls far from the mark of safety. All it would take would be one time of the container being left open and a child discovering and assuredly eating the contents.

These tobacco candies are not only harmful to children who are sure to confuse them with actual candy, but underaged teenagers are sure to be more likely to utilize these new novelty products.

This is especially apparent in one of the Camel Orbs advertisements, which says “Enjoy Anywhere. Anytime. Anyplace.”

With cigarettes, it is easy to detect minors who have used or are using tobacco products. However, Camel Orbs can be hidden in the mouth and have virtually no scent. Even if a teenager were caught ingesting a Camel Orb, it could easily be passed off as candy.

While the physical implications of the ingestion of Camel Orbs to children may be more readily apparent in young children, reason leads to the belief that repeated usage by teenagers could easily proved fatal through a lifetime of tobacco addiction.

In September of 2009, the sale of favored cigarettes was banned by the federal government, which were considered to be a gateway usage of tobacco for teenagers. That legislation was highly commendable. However, these novelty candy tobacco products are sure to be far more appealing to younger consumers.

When the September legislation was passed, the fruit, candy and clove-flavored cigarettes were removed from the shelves of distributors. Now, instead of purchasing candy-flavored cigarettes, addicts and beginning users can simply purchase the tobacco candy. Tobacco companies seem to be dancing the line between the banned cigarettes and this new candy.

The intentions of the tobacco companies is also apparent in their choice of magazines in which to advertise. They chose the popular magazines “Wired,” “People” and “Rolling Stone,” all of which are directed at younger audiences.

Are the tobacco companies replacing their past consuming generation of smokers, who have either reaped the medical consequences of tobacco usage or have realized the reckless error or their judgment, with a younger, less responsible generation of consumers? The answer is undoubtedly yes.

It is likely that new consumers of Camel Orbs, a product that is sure to be followed by equivalent products from other companies, will be a young generation of consumers. Thus, the project should be taken off the shelves of stores and quickly.

Baylor

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has named members to its new Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, which will hold its first meeting at the end of March to discuss menthol in cigarettes.

The committee was mandated by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, passed last year, which gives the FDA regulatory control over tobacco products.

The committee comprises nine voting and three non-voting members. Of the nine voting members, seven are health professionals, including a pulmonogist, a psychologist specializing in tobacco cessation, a pharmacologist with an expertise in nicotine, a psychologist who specializes in how advertising and marketing affect behavior, and an oncologist who is the chief medical officer of the High Plains division of the American Cancer Society.

The two non-healthcare professionals include a state government official and a member of the general public.

There will also be three non-voting members from the tobacco industry, which will include one from the tobacco manufacturing industry, one representing tobacco growers, and one representative from the small business manufacturing industry.

The panel will provide advice, information, and recommendations on tobacco-related issues. Its first meeting is scheduled for March 30 and will focus on the use of menthol in cigarettes: whether the additive attracts different demographics, and how it ties into addiction and cessation.

Consumer perceptions about menthol cigarettes, the sensory qualities of menthol cigarettes, and the effects of menthol on how cigarettes are smoked will will also be discussed at the first meeting.

That meeting will help inform a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes, which was required by the new tobacco law.

A 2008 review of tobacco company marketing documents found cigarette companies adjusted menthol levels in cigarettes to get adolescents hooked.

On March 31, the panel will discuss future tobacco-related topics, including an action plan to ensure cigarette companies aren’t advertising their products to young people, and creating a list of harmful tobacco additives. The committee will meet in the summer to focus on tobacco industry research.

“FDA will be faced with many challenging tobacco-related public health, science, and regulatory issues as we move forward with implementation of the Tobacco Control Act,” said Lawrence R. Deyton, MD, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products in a release.

“The breadth of knowledge amassed by this highly-qualified group will supplement and enhance the agency’s understanding of tobacco control, prevention, and health promotion issues.”

Jonathan Samet, MD, director the Institute for Global Health at the University of Southern California, will chair the panel.

By Emily P. Walker, Medpagetoday

WASHINGTON – U.S. health officials are seeking more information about the possible attraction and addiction of flavored, dissolvable tobacco products that regulators worry look too much like candy and can entice children.

The products, made by Reynolds American Inc’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co and by Star Scientific Inc, contain powdered “smokeless” tobacco and are brightly colored, with flavors such as coffee and mint.

Companies have argued that the products, which include dissolvable tablets, are aimed at adults who must deal with a growing number of smoking bans in public places as well as those looking to stop smoking.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in letters to Reynolds and Star Scientific released late Tuesday, said it was concerned that the products could draw in children and teenagers. Use of the products could lead to nicotine addiction and could even cause health problems from the ingestion of too much nicotine, the FDA said.

While laws vary among the U.S. states, most limit tobacco purchase to those 18 and older.

FDA is “concerned that children and adolescents may find dissolvable tobacco products particularly appealing, given the brightly colored packaging, candy-like appearance and easily concealable size of many of these products,” Lawrence Deyton, head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, wrote February 1.

The letters come as the FDA prepares to hold its first public meeting on tobacco issues later this year. Agency officials have quickly moved to flex their new oversight of tobacco products after a new law granted them the power last year.

Any move by the FDA to further regulate or even remove dissolvable tobacco products from the U.S. market would be a huge blow to Star Scientific. The one-time cigarette manufacturer has shifted its focus to making products it says expose consumers to lower levels of toxins.

Sara Troy Machir, a spokeswoman for Star Scientific, said the company was not surprised by the letter and would cooperate fully.

“We’re happy to share information with them,” Machir said, adding that Star’s smokeless products — Ariva and Stonewall — have been on the market for 10 years.

Representatives for R.J. Reynolds did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

R.J. Reynolds markets three types of similar products under its Camel brand that deliver dissolvable nicotine in tablet, mouth strip and small matchstick-like forms.

The two companies have been embroiled in a patent dispute over some of the technology behind the dissolvable products.

While FDA in its letters to the two companies acknowledged the products are marketed to adults, it nonetheless asked both manufacturers for extensive information on research and marketing practices for the products.

Star Scientific and Reynolds have two months to respond.

By Susan Heavey, Reuters

Thu Feb 4, 2010

With the failure of one law comes the pursuit of new ones.

Since the Food and Drug Administration has taken over the regulation of tobacco, many new ideas and laws have come into play that leave issues of civil freedoms dangling in the balance. The main one that some states are beginning to notice is the ban on flavored cigarettes and cigars.

Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the FDA, has been quoted as saying, “Flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become smokers.”

This is the reasoning for the new ban.

I disagree; we already have a law in place that bans minors from smoking.

As recently reported in The Daily Eastern News, we saw in the news that 11 businesses were busted in Charleston alone for selling cigarettes to minors. I imagine this is also the case in many cities across the country.

So, basically, this law is failing outrageously. With this law failing to get the job done, instead of creating harsher punishments for those who sell to minors, we have decided to put into place a new law that bans flavored tobacco because, somehow, that is the cause for teens smoking.

Bad parenting and a poor work ethic is why kids are smoking!

Why does the FDA think that putting a ban on flavored cigarettes will change anything when businesses are still selling cigarettes to minors, regardless of flavor? To me, that is like saying that since the law against murder isn’t working we are going to ban all knives. Nonetheless, the FDA doesn’t stop there.

They are also considering not only dedicating 50 percent of a cigarette pack to a health warning but even putting the image of a diseased lung on cigarette packs.

Does that not seem seriously over the top and down the other side of the mountain? What they haven’t accounted for is the loss in tax dollars that is set to follow this ban on flavored tobacco. Some states are predicted to lose up to $140 million in tax money from the banning of flavored cigarettes.

Where do they plan to make up for this lost money? God forbid it be from education funding.

Another thought is that since the FDA takeover, the tobacco center at the FDA has issued numerous fees on tobacco corporations that fund the center’s very existence.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, it is predicted that by 2013 these fees will bring in up to $500 million annually. As usual we can see that somebody sure does stand to profit a lot.

Is it possible the tobacco corporations are being exploited for continuous profits by the U.S. government? Of course.

After all, tobacco companies are stuck with sales taxes much higher than alcohol or any other products on the market. People think this is fair because the rise in health care costs because of tobacco-related illnesses. News flash: Alcohol and fast food also lead to many health problems such as liver disease and heart disease.

They both rack up comparable health care costs. Tobacco doesn’t deserve all the blame. In my opinion, the government is taking the easy way out and the profitable way to pointing fingers where fingers aren’t meant to be justifiably pointed.

Julian Russell
12/3/09 Dennews

The noble intention of the most recent tobacco regulation is to stop the targeting of youth with the sweet flavors they love in solid form. The bill, signed by President Obama in June and in effect since last week, smartly recognizes the specific allure of flavored cigarettes; the hardbitten service employee likely doesn’t go for chocolate smokes, which are probably a more effective pitch than Joe Camel ever was.
Those involved might paint this as a result of Congress building bridges with a subsidiary of the responsible Altria Group, a large corporation, and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a nonprofit, to bring us the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

Well doesn’t that just sound precious.

Actually, the epitome of Big Tobacco slithered into the policy process in order to carve their own advantage into the bill.

You see, “Altria Group” was “Philip Morris Companies, Inc.,” until it rebranded in 2003. The new name (Latin for “high”) makes it sound like the kind of light, clean corporate entity that would “offer innovative solutions” or other such buzzwords — not the kind that makes the lion’s share of its profit peddling flavored cancer.
Under this moniker, Slate magazine and the New York Times report, it played a heavy role in the shaping of this regulation.

Want to know how you can tell? The legislation curiously omits a certain flavor from what would otherwise be a comprehensive ban. Strangely, the flavor left out is by far the most popular and has been found to be more addictive and potentially more harmful.

That would be menthol cigarettes, of which Philip Morris is a huge manufacturer. (One sees why rival R.J. Reynolds has dubbed the bill the “Marlboro Monopoly Act.” Slate’s Paul Smalera wrote an insightful piece on the unbalanced nature of the ban which goes into far more detail than I can here.)
Philip Morris’ policymaking role here wasn’t a one-off thing; it conforms to a long-term strategy of getting involved to ensure a measure of protection.

The Slate article mentions “Project Sunrise,” an initiative with the goal of working with, rather than against, legislators and the “antis” such as Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. In this way, they hoped to dilute legislation before they acquiesce to it, stomping out any chance of hard-hitting reform.
The company’s newest offering, Marlboro Blend No. 54 (minty Marlboro 27s introduced a week before the ban was signed) sits on shelves at this very moment as proof that Philip Morris has very much succeeded in that regard.

Look up “Sunrise.” The University of California, San Francisco’s Legacy Tobacco Documents Library hosts relevant documents online. One in particular, an outline of “Sunrise” written for a board meeting, is unnerving in its cold, manipulative calculations. It constructs multiple scenarios named in the creepy, operational style of classified government programs: “Bladerunner,” “New Game,” “Avalanche.” Some provide eerily prescient predictions of current American society.

All go well beyond the scope of simple advertising or market research.
Yet what would otherwise be sinister but abstract corporate schemes become reality when Congress, all-too-eager to appear responsive and all-too-ready to sell out, takes the bait as they did this time. Inaction is one thing, but doing little and marketing it as a lot is quite another.

There’s another loophole. Smokers of clove cigarettes might chafe at the prohibition on their delicious vice, but it’s nothing to worry about. The legal wording bans flavored “cigarettes,” so manufacturer Djarum now wraps its products in tobacco leaves and markets them as flavored cigars. And again, menthols — favored 75 percent among African Americans, yet the Congressional Black Caucus approved the bill —are as available as ever and now dominate the arena of accessible flavor.

Think about it. Who won here? Who lost? I’d say that Nick Naylor himself, the jive-talking antihero of “Thank You For Smoking,” couldn’t have asked for more.

Whitten Maher is a senior political science and media arts & design major and design editor at The Breeze.

Contact Whitten Maher at mahercw@jmu.edu

The Perrigo Company today announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market over-the-counter coated nicotine polacrilex lozenge USP, 2 mg and 4 mg in cherry and cinnamon flavors.

The new products will be marketed under store brand labels and are comparable to GlaxoSmithKline’s Commit(R) lozenge, which is an aid to smoking cessation. Perrigo’s Chairman and CEO Joseph C. Papa stated, “These two approvals expand our exclusive position in the store brand nicotine lozenge category. The expanded range of smoking cessation products also includes coated mint and Fruit Chill(TM) flavored gum, uncoated gum and lozenges.” The smoking cessation category is selling at an annual rate estimated at approximately $1 billion at all retail outlets. We expect to begin shipments in the near future.

Perrigo Company is a leading global healthcare supplier that develops, manufactures and distributes OTC and generic prescription pharmaceuticals, nutritional products, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and consumer products. The Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of OTC pharmaceutical products for the store brand market. The Company’s primary markets and locations of manufacturing and logistics operations are the United States, Israel, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Note: Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. These statements relate to future events or the Company’s future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of the Company or its industry to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or other comparable terminology. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s control.
These and other important factors, including those discussed under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended June28, 2008, as well as the Company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


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