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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Edward L. Sweda or Mark
Gottlieb Louisiana
Court of Appeals Orders Tobacco Companies to Pay Over $230 Million for
Court-Approved Smoking Cessation Program Nearly fourteen years after the
lawsuit was originally filed, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth
Circuit on Friday
affirmed a trial court judgment in Scott v.
American Tobacco Co., et al., that the major
American tobacco companies must fund a smoking cessation program to benefit
more than 200,000 Louisiana smokers. Attorney Steve J. Herman, who represents the plaintiffs,
said: “after a three-year trial and a six-year appeals process going all the
way to the U.S. Supreme Court, we are happy with the court’s unanimous
decision, and optimistic that the court-supervised programs awarded by the
jury in 2004 can now be funded, so that smokers can get assistance in
quitting from qualified Louisiana health care providers.” Attorney
Herman can be reached at 504-680-0554. Edward L. Sweda, Jr., Senior
Attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project (TPLP), a project of the
Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) based at Northeastern University
School of Law in Boston, welcomed the unanimous decision, which he described
as “a clear victory for the health of thousands of Louisiana smokers who
will benefit from the four components of the smoking cessation program
approved by the Louisiana Court of Appeal in 2007.” Those four
components are: “This case is a trailblazer,” added Richard A. Daynard, founder of TPLP and a Northeastern University Law Professor. “Attorneys in the other 49 states should file similar claims so that their citizens can also get the benefits of this program,” he concluded. -- 30 --
The Tobacco Products Liability Project
(TPLP) is a project of the Public Health Advocacy Institute, which is based at
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