Last week, Big Tobacco players Altria, Lorillard, and Reynolds American closed out a 13-year legal battle with a victory. These tobacco companies and others were sued by the city of St. Louis and 37 area hospitals for nearly $455 million in a bid to recover costs from 1993 to 2010 of treating smoking-related illnesses for patients who were unable to pay. The hospitals claimed that the industry had purposely produced an “unreasonably danger ... Jump to full article >>

BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Support among Idaho lawmakers for a proposed increase in the state’s tobacco tax could hinge on whether tribal retailers agree to impose the same tax on cigarettes sold at stores on reservations across the state. Lawmakers are preparing legislation that would raise the state tax on cigarettes by $1.25 per pack, one of only a few potential sources of new revenue being considered during the 2011 Legislature. The Lewisto ... Jump to full article >>

FORT HALL, Idaho — The state Legislature is considering raising its tax on cigarettes by $1.25 per pack, but some lawmakers are trying to extend the tax to reservations as well. The Sho-Ban tribe said the proposal came out of nowhere, and a state-enforced tax would hurt their local revenue. LeeAnn Avila works for the Fort Hall Health Education Department. Her boss, Rebecca Washikie, said that a state-enforced tobacco tax could potentially ... Jump to full article >>

A standing-room-only crowd in the gallery — and more than two dozen jurors and alternates spilling from the jury box — packed a courtroom here Monday to hear opening statements in a trial that pits regional and local medical providers against Big Tobacco. Everything about the case is large: Big dollars: The plaintiffs had sought $1 billion for the cost of treating diseases of smokers, although the demand is down to less than $500 million i ... Jump to full article >>

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) — A deadline for lawsuits seeking to recoup smokers’ health-care costs from a Japan Tobacco Inc. unit that had been sought by British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick was rejected by a judge for coming prematurely. The Canadian provinces want their claims for treating people with smoking-related illnesses included among those of creditors for Japan Tobacco’s insolvent JTI-MacDonald unit. The provinces said they fe ... Jump to full article >>