Business Services Industry

Tobacco firms face new liability to health plans.(Philip Morris Inc., Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield)(Government Activity)(Brief Article)

Business Insurance, June, 2001 by Bradford, Michael

NEW YORK-Tobacco companies' exposure to liability for health plans' costs of treating smoking-related ailments may increase in the wake of a recent jury verdict. A federal court jury in New York last week awarded Empire Blue Cross & Blue Shield $17.8 million to reimburse its smoking-related treatment costs.

There are more than a dozen other such lawsuits pending in the same court by Blues plans from across the country. The decision signals a new assault on tobacco companies. In the first case in which an insurer has successfully sued the tobacco industry, several cigarette makers were found guilty of deceptive trade practices and were told to pay Empire Blue Cross & Blue Shield the multimillion-dollar award. The jury decided the tobacco companies were...

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