French Agency to Sue Tobacco Companies

A local branch of the French health insurance program said it is preparing a suit against four tobacco companies for up to $90 million, blaming them for smoking-related diseases. The lawsuit, expected to be filed by the end of March, would be a first in France, where smoking remains widely tolerated and socially acceptable. The social security office in the coastal city of Saint-Nazaire will sue tobacco companies Philip Morris Cos., Canada’s Rothmans Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and the French company Seita. The insurance program said it hopes to recover the cost of treating the 500 people afflicted with smoking-related illnesses in the area. Pierre Rousseau, a director of the social security office known as the Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie, said the office in the southern city of Avignon may follow suit. Rousseau estimated the cost of tobacco-related diseases in France at about $1.8 billion per year.