Judge Allows Maryland Suit to Proceed

A Maryland state judge ruled that the state’s Medicaid suit against the tobacco industry may proceed to trial, but the ruling complicates the state’s effort to secure the $13 billion in damages it is seeking. Deciding a motion to dismiss filed by the industry, Circuit Court Judge Robert Brown said the state’s claims under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act and antitrust laws may go forward. But in a holding that could make Maryland’s claim more cumbersome, Brown ruled that the state cannot sue tobacco interests in its own right under nine common-law theories. Instead, Maryland may only litigate its common-law claims in the names of the thousands of individual Medicaid recipients alleged to have been injured by smoking. That means the state could be forced to prove the damages sustained by every Medicaid recipient who was allegedly injured by using tobacco in order to recover on its common-law claims. Tobacco industry lawyer Michael York said the Baltimore ruling takes away the force of the state’s claim. . . . Smokers in Florida, meanwhile, have requested permission to participate in negotiations between states and the tobacco industry, saying that in any settlement “we’re the ones who will be paying.” Jackie Miller, president of the Florida Smokers Rights Assn., said she had written to Atty. Gen. Bob Butterworth of Florida and Atty. Gen. Michael Moore of Mississippi requesting a seat at the talks.