The Year in Preview

An immense battle looms in Congress over the giant peace accord negotiated among industry lawyers, state attorneys general and private anti-tobacco attorneys. Under the proposal, the industry would pay $368.5 billion and make public-health concessions in exchange for eliminating the greatest legal threats: state lawsuits, anti-tobacco class actions and punitive-damage claims in suits by individual smokers. Many industry foes instead want big tobacco tax increases to discourage smoking, without any legal protections for the industry. Unless settlements are reached soon, the industry will also be on trial in January in Minnesota and Texas, where the attorneys general are suing the industry to recoup Medicaid costs.