Key Issues Unresolved in Tobacco Industry Lawsuits

Key issues remained unresolved in negotiations to settle massive lawsuits against the tobacco industry, according to several participants in the talks, which resumed Monday in Washington.

“We’re still working through a very similar set of issues,” said Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal, one of the five negotiators for states that have sued the tobacco industry to recoup billions of dollars in state health costs expended treating sick smokers.

Those issues include how much control the federal Food and Drug Administration will have over the tobacco industry and the nicotine content of cigarettes, whether the industry will be immune from punitive damages in any future litigation and how much money will be in the settlement pot. Sources have said the settlement could range from $300 million to $400 million.

Industry representatives have said they will not approve any deal unless punitive damages are capped. In turn, the attorneys general have said they will not accept a cap, though they have agreed to bar class actions against the cigarette companies.

“There is still big head butting on punitives,” one source close to the talks said.

Last week, Matt Myers, executive director of the Center for Tobacco Free Kids, said the companies already have agreed to major restrictions on their advertising, to place more stringent warnings on cigarettes and other changes that could lead to a million lives being saved.

Mississippi Atty. Gen. Mike Moore has said for weeks that he hoped for a swift resolution of the remaining issues, but the process has proved slower than he expected.

On Monday, sources close to the talks said some negotiators had approached the White House to see whether the Clinton administration would endorse an incomplete agreement and perhaps even help resolve the sticking points.

Sources said administration officials were not receptive to this idea.

“The White House won’t do it,” an attorney involved in the talks said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a longtime tobacco foe who has urged a cautious approach to any settlement, met Monday with White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles to discuss the issue.

“It was a good meeting,” Waxman’s chief aide Phil Schiliro said. “Henry came away with the feeling that the White House will do a serious review of the proposal. They want to understand it and read the fine print. From a public-health perspective, that’s good news.”