The basis for overhauling the country's tobacco
regulations—and the opportunity to snag a huge windfall for the Treasury —{{U}}
(46) {{/U}} State attorneys general had ganged up
on the industry, suing for reimbursement of Medicaid and other patient-care
costs incurred, they say, because of the companies' promotion of cigarette
smoking. {{U}}(47) {{/U}} The companies offered to
pay a whopping $ 368.5 billion to the plaintiffs and various governments over 25
years, accept strict regulation of their products, and curb advertising.
{{U}}(48) {{/U}} The companies specifically asked Congress for a bar on
class-action suits, protection from punitive damage awards for past deeds, and
an annual limit of roughly $ 5 billion on damages awarded to individual
plaintiffs. The proposal is stunning, but Congress didn't leap at the offer.
Just days after these terms were unveiled, two of the
nation's best known public health officials and antitobacco crusaders—former
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, now
dean of the Yale medical school—denounced the proposal. {{U}}(49)
{{/U}}Koop told the reporters he was concerned that the public might be
"snookered" by the cash offer. Koop and Kessler were later joined by other
public health advocacy groups, including the American Lung Association and
American Medical Association, in urging Congress not to accept the proposal
without revision. Kessler says he thinks it is "unlikely
that there will be a deal granting the industry immunity (from litigation),
"because no one will want to accept the risk of being perceived as a friend of
tobacco. Yet at the same time, Kessler says, "I'm all in favor of an excise tax
on cigarettes" that would raise the price and make it harder for teenagers to
buy cigarettes. He adds, "I am strongly in favor of using that money for
biomedical research." {{U}}(50) {{/U}}
A. On 20 June, the two negotiating teams unveiled a deal that they said
could end the litigation and aid public health, if Congress could approve it.
B. In return, they asked the federal government to shield them from certain
legal bills
C. arose last year in talks between 5 major tobacco companies and 40 states
D. In short, cigarette smoking does nothing but harm to the people's health
| E. Kessler warns, however, that the federal government muse be careful not
to get "hooked on tobacco money." F. Both argued that the
settlement provided too little in return for indemnity from class-action
suits. |