Newfoundland and Labrador government suit
April 12, 2000
Newfoundland government announces it will proceed with
legislation to allow the province to sue tobacco companies for
damages related to health care costs.
April 11, 12, 2001
Newfoundland Justice Minister introduces the Tobacco Health
Care Costs Recovery Act, and appoints a Select Committee of the
House of Assembly to hold hearings into the act.
May 2001
Newfoundland House of Assembly holds hearings and debates
Tobacco Health Care Costs Recovery Act.
May 24, 2001
Newfoundland's "Tobacco Health Care Costs Recovery Act" is
passed.
October, 2002
Newfoundland engages U.S. lawfirm Humphrey, Farrington,
McClain and Edgar to manage the case on a 30% contingency fee.
(see media coverage below)
February 8, 2011
Newfoundland and Labrador proclaim Tobacco Health Care Costs
REcovery Act and file suit against the tobacco companies
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Media:
Newfoundland ready to take on tobacco giants;
October 19, 2002
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has hired a U.S. law
firm in anticipation of a court fight with the tobacco industry
over who should pay for health costs related to smoking.
"This lawsuit is not just about recouping the province's
costs," Premier Roger Grimes said yesterday. "It is about making
tobacco companies accountable . . . (and) we are hoping that
through this lawsuit we can change the attitude of people in
this province, of all ages, towards tobacco use."
The law firm Humphrey, Farrington, McClain and Edgar of
Independence, Mo., has confirmed it will take on the province's
case through a contingency fee arrangement. The firm will be
paid a 30 per cent share of any settlement or court award.
In November 1998, the firm was involved in a landmark case
that resulted in tobacco companies agreeing to pay $206 billion
US in tobacco-related claims to eight U.S. states.
U.S. attorney Ken McClain, who will be working on the case, made
a name for himself in 1997 when his client, Janet Sackman, won a
settlement in New York after she sued a tobacco company.
The settlement marked the first time a tobacco company agreed
to pay for damages caused by smoking directly to a plaintiff.
Manitoba, Quebec and New Brunswick have also shown interest
in filing lawsuits against tobacco companies.
Newfoundland's Liberal government has largely followed the
lead of B.C. In 1998, that province became the first
jurisdiction in Canada to seek a legal means of recovering
smoking-related health costs from tobacco companies.
To do that, it passed the Tobacco Damages and Health Care
Costs Recovery Act, which allowed the B.C. government to sue
Imperial Tobacco Ltd., Rothmans, Benson and Hedges Inc. and
JTI-Macdonald Inc.
But in February 2000, the Supreme Court of British Columbia
struck down the legislation, saying it went too far in trying to
implicate the multinational parents of Canadian subsidiaries
operating in British Columbia.
The act was redrafted and another lawsuit was filed in
January 2001. A Nov. 4 trial and hearing will determine the
constitutional validity of the act and to deal with
jurisdictional challenges filed by the foreign owners of the
tobacco companies.
Newfoundland introduced legislation similar to B.C.'s in May
2001 and the province is now bracing for legal challenges from
the tobacco companies.
Canadian Press
N.L. seeks to recover health care costs; launches suit
against tobacco companies; N.L. launches suit against tobacco
companies
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The government of Newfoundland and
Labrador has filed a lawsuit against tobacco manufacturers to
recover the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses, 10
years after it introduced legislation allowing it to sue tobacco
companies.
"By proclaiming this piece of legislation we want to expose
tobacco companies for misrepresenting the harm associated with
their products," Justice Minister Felix Collins said in a news
release.
The Tobacco Health Care Costs Recovery Act was passed by the
House of Assembly in 2001 but only proclaimed on Tuesday.
"We now have entrenched in our provincial statutes the
mechanisms by which we can attempt to recover the health-related
costs associated with tobacco use," Collins said.
The province says its 51-page statement of claim names more than
a dozen manufacturers including industry giants Rothmans Inc.
and Philip Morris USA Inc.
The province has been monitoring other jurisdictions with
similar legislation and now feels it has everything necessary to
build a strong case, said Collins.
The court action seeks recovery of costs associated with
health-care services provided to individuals who have suffered
from tobacco-related diseases, as well as future health-related
costs to the province.
"Tobacco use costs the province several hundred million
dollars annually in both direct health care costs and indirect
costs including productivity lost due to illness and premature
death," Health Minister Jerome Kennedy said in the release.
He said tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable
disease and death and is attributable to lung cancer, heart
disease and respiratory disease.
The government has hired a law firm in St. John's to handle
the case.The Newfoundland team will get legal advice from a law
firm that specializes in tobacco litigation based in
Independence, Mo.
The Canadian Press
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