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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Israel: Court Agrees to Hear $1.7 Billion Lawsuit Against Big Tobacco [02/19-4]
Excerpts from: Jerusalem Court Approves Lawsuit Aimed at Tobacco Companies
Israel National News.com [02/17/04]
An Israeli court decided today (Tuesday) to hear a $1.7 billion lawsuit brought by one of Israel's largest health care providers against eight top cigarette companies for the costs of treating patients suffering from ailments caused by tobacco products.
Clalit (General Health Services) is suing the tobacco companies for 7.6 billion shekels ($1.7 billion) plus unspecified punitive damages, charging that the firms produced and distributed cigarettes although fully aware that they were addictive and unhealthy.
The lawsuit is aimed at the Philip Morris unit of Altria Group Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., the Loews Corp., British American Tobacco, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co, the Vector Group Ltd.'s Liggett Group as well as the Israeli cigarette company Dubek. The plaintiff places most of the responsibility on Dubek, which it described as, "the main developer, manufacturer, and marketer of cigarettes in Israel, which also acts for foreign cigarette companies in Israel."
The lawsuit was originally filed in 1998 but has sat in the courts while the defendants filed various motions seeking its dismissal. The decision of the Jerusalem District Court today was that the case indeed has merit and should be heard.
The court decision has cleared the way for the start of the discovery process in which the defendants are required to produce documents and answer questions before going to trial.
The cigarette companies plan to continue appealing the decision. "We believe this decision was strictly procedural in nature. It did not in any way address the underlying merits of the action itself," said Philip Morris spokesman, Marc Fritsch.
In an unprecedented episode in the United States in 1998, 46 states settled out of court with tobacco companies for $206 billion. The U.S. government is suing the tobacco industry for $289 billion on racketeering charges, alleging they intentionally misled the American public in their statements about the addictiveness of nicotine.
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