Legal Officers Mull Smoking Settlement

A working group of attorneys general from several of the 14 states that have filed massive lawsuits against the tobacco industry will attempt to refine and win support for a proposed global settlement of tobacco litigation.

The top legal officers from the 14 states met for three hours in Chicago on Tuesday after leaks to the media about a proposed settlement with tobacco companies that could result in payments by the industry of more than $100 billion to fund anti-smoking campaigns, compensate ill smokers and reimburse states for the costs of treating indigent victims of smoking-related ailments. The proposal was drafted by several of the attorneys general and private lawyers they have retained to assist them with their suits against the industry.

Some of the attorneys general denounced the proposal and others reportedly voiced resentment at first learning of it from news reports. Some tobacco industry executives have also criticized the proposal as unacceptable.

Mississippi Atty. Gen. Mike Moore, a key backer of the proposal, said a settlement could be imposed through congressional legislation--but only if a consensus is reached among the attorneys general, the White House, public health officials, private anti-tobacco lawyers and the tobacco companies.

“If we build that kind of consensus that this is the right thing to do . . . then we’ll put something forward,” Moore said.