L.A. COUNTY: GETS THE OK TO SUE TOBACCO INDUSTRY
A San Diego Superior Court judge ruled Friday that LosThis is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
Angeles County can proceed with its lawsuit against the tobacco
industry seeking to recover taxpayer dollars spent treating
tobacco-related illness, (SACRAMENTO BEE, 4/19) reports.
According to County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the ruling by
Judge Robert May makes Los Angeles County the "first government
entity in California -- and the first local government in the
country -- 'to be given the green light'" to sue the tobacco
industry. SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reports that Yaroslavsky
called for the suit in 1996, in which the county seeks to recoup
the $400 million a year that it spends in Medicaid funds treating
smoking related illness. The suit names R.J. Reynolds, Philip
Morris and other tobacco manufacturers, the Tobacco Institute and
cigarette vending machine companies. Yaroslavsky said, "This is
a significant victory for the county. (Tobacco companies) ought
to be held accountable for the damage they are doing to our
citizens." However, Maurice Leiter, an attorney for Philip
Morris claimed the ruling was a victory for the tobacco companies
because Judge May took under advisement the fraud claim, which
was the only allegation for which punitive damages could be
awarded. Leiter said, "If the judge rules in our favor on the
fraud claim, it will gut one of the central themes of the
county's ability to collect damages." The suit also seeks to
"ban" advertisements targeting children and to force the
defendants to finance an educational campaign publicizing the
nicotine content of tobacco products (Dreben, 4/19).