A cigarette manufacturer and a managed care company collaborate to censor health information targeted at employees

A review of internal tobacco company documents showed that the tobacco company Philip Morris and the insurance company CIGNA collaborated to censor accurate information on the harm of smoking and on environmental tobacco smoke exposure from CIGNA health newsletters sent to employees of Philip Morris and its affiliates. From 1996 to 1998, 5 of the 8 CIGNA newsletters discussed in the internal tobacco documents were censored. We recommend that accrediting bodies mandate that health plans not censor employee-directed health information at the request of employers.