Michigan Is 13th State to File Suit Against Cigarette Makers
May 04, 2011
DETROIT -- Michigan has become the latest state to sue the tobacco industry for costs associated with smoking-related illnesses, filing a lawsuit that seeks $14 billion in damages. Michigan is the 13th state to sue cigarette makers, following recent suits filed Tuesday by Arizona and Kansas. Among the demands Michigan seeks from the tobacco industry: disclosure of all research information on the effects of smoking, funds for public campaigns that would detail smoking's effects, a stop to ``unlawful'' advertising that targets children and $10 billion in punitive damages. Tobacco officials called the most recent lawsuits an attempt to jump aboard ``the politically correct bandwagon.'' Among the defendants named in most of the cases: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Philip Morris Inc.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and its owner, B.A.T Industries; Liggett Group; Lorillard Tobacco Co.; American Tobacco Co.; The Council for Tobacco Research U.S.A. Inc. and the Tobacco Institute Inc.
