Star Scientific has a long history as a magnet for controversy

(Richmond Times-Dispatch) For a small company, Star Scientific Inc. is no stranger to big controversies.
The Henrico County-based company, now the subject of a federal securities investigation, two shareholder lawsuits, and a political fracas over a gift from its top executive to Gov. Bob McDonnell's family, has a history of being involved in the public health wars over tobacco and courtroom dogfights with big-money implications.
For most of its history as a maker of cigarettes, then smokeless tobacco, Star Scientific has presented itself as an innovator, seeking to bring change to an industry that for decades resisted it. Continued