Steven C. Parrish

Steve Parrish was a Senior Vice President of Phillip Morris USA and on many occasions he acted as a spokesman for the tobacco industry.

Before joining Philip Morris he was an industry lawyer with the Kansas City firm of Shook Hardy and Bacon which was the main law firm handling the tobacco industry's secret payments to scientists and academic consultants. He became a partner of the law firm in 1985. He was also a key member of the tobacco industry's Committee of Counsel and made his reputation defending the industry in the Rose Cippalone case which first exposed the full extent of the industry's corrupt dealings.

In 1989 Parrish worked with Philip Morris International in Lausanne, Switzerland coordinating international product liability legislation for PM, and in June 1990, he was appointed Vice President, Corporate Scientific Affairs, Philip Morris Management Corp. He was named Vice President and General Counsel for Philip Morris USA in October 1990.

His Corporate Scientific Affairs (euphemism for scientific lobbying) division a had budget of $18–19 million per year in 1992, which was only a fraction of the total funds devoted to debating the medical evidence against cigarettes by the international division.

In 1994 the company CEO Geoff Bible announced that Steve Parrish would coordinate PM Companies legal, scientific corporate affairs, government affairs and communications activities on various tobacco issues. In this role he handled many of the details of the Master Settlement Agreement between the tobacco industry, the State Attorneys General, and the Clinton Administration.

He appeared on CBS's 'Face the Nation' (1 September 1996) saying:

"We have received requests from the Justice Department for testimony and for documents. We have cooperated. We will continue to cooperate."

See also

• Tobacco in the United States