Pubdate: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Orange County Register Contact: P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711 Fax: (714) 565-3657 Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ Section: News,page 26 Author: Michael J. Sniffen-The Associated Press KEEP ANTI-TOBACCO SUIT ALIVE, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT URGES Health: U.S. Asks That Companies' Motion To Dismiss The Suit, Filed Last Year, Be Denied. WASHINGTON - The Justice Department urged a federal judge Friday to keep its massive lawsuit against the tobacco industry alive because the cigarette companies "pose a continuing threat to the health and well-being of the American public." In several documents filed with U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, the department argued that the companies made "multiple legal errors" in their December motions to dismiss the lawsuit. The government accuses cigarette makers of conspiring for 45-years to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking and seeks to recover billion of dollars spent by Medicare and other federal health programs to treat smoking-induced illnesses. Industry lawyers contended that no court had ever recognized the government's right to recover payments it made under the Medicare health program. But the Justice Department said, "That argument asks the court to ignore the plain statutory language of the Medical Care Recovery Act ... (which) authorizes the United States to recover all medical costs that it is 'authorized or required by law to furnish or pay for.'" To the industry's complaint that the government had never before brought such a case, the Justice Department replied, "What makes this suit unique is the conduct of these corporations, which for decades have deliberately and successfully addicted millions of citizens to a product that defendants have long known causes suffering and death. ... Defendants cannot rely on the sheer massiveness of their wrongdoing to defeat this suit." Last year, the industry reached settlements with all 50 states. It agreed to pay states $246 billion to settle lawsuits they filed to recover the cost of treating sick smokers in the Medicaid program, which serves poor and disabled Americans. Posted By: Allan Wilkinson