This story was updated on July 3, 2025, to include a statement from Philip Morris International in response.
In April 2019, I joined Philip Morris Japan as director of medical and scientific affairs. I’m a doctor — and a smoker — and after 25 years working in global health for the Foreign Ministry, I was attracted by the smoke-free vision of Philip Morris International, the world’s largest tobacco company.
Philip Morris, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, states that it is building its future on “smoke-free products that — while not risk-free — are a far better choice than cigarette smoking.” Products such as its Iqos “heat-not-burn” device, which heats tobacco without setting it alight, offer a better alternative for adults “who would otherwise continue smoking cigarettes,” the company says, claiming that this amounts to “tobacco harm reduction.”
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