ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 16, 1996 TAG: 9607160038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY.
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
Thomas Sandefur Jr., a former tobacco executive who testified to Congress in 1994 that he did not believe nicotine was addictive, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 56.
Sandefur, a former chairman of Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., died at a hospital of aplastic anemia, the company said.
Sandefur was among the chief executive officers of the nation's six major cigarette companies who testified before Congress that they did not think nicotine is addictive. They also denied claims that tobacco companies manipulate the amount of nicotine in their brands to hook smokers.
A former subordinate of Sandefur disputed his testimony. Jeffrey Wigand, a biochemist and the former head of research at B&W, told the CBS program ``60 Minutes'' that Sandefur lied when he told Congress that he believed nicotine was not addictive.
Wigand testified in a pretrial deposition that Sandefur privately said his company was ``in the nicotine-delivery business,'' according to published excerpts of the deposition.
Wigand's deposition came in Mississippi's lawsuit to recover smokers' health care costs.
B&W, the nation's third-largest tobacco company, has sued Wigand, accusing him of violating confidentiality agreements and divulging company secrets. He was fired in March 1993.
Sandefur was an executive at Louisville-based Brown & Williamson, the nation's third-largest tobacco company, for a dozen years and became its chairman and chief executive officer in 1993, positions he held until his retirement in 1995.
Sandefur was credited with leading B&W through the acquisition of American Tobacco and helping develop international brands.
Before joining Brown & Williamson in 1982, Sandefur worked for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in marketing, administrative and executive positions.
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LENGTH: Short : 48 linesby CNB