Source: Wire: Reuters Pubdate: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 UK doctors mull lawsuits in war on tobacco firms LONDON (Reuters) The British Medical Association said Wednesday it might follow the lead taken by the United States and explore possible compensation from tobacco firms to cover treatment of smokingrelated diseases. ``We are looking today at whether we should be taking more risks in the area of antitobacco litigation,'' John Chisolm of the BMA, the main professional body for Britain's doctors, told a news conference. The BMA is seeking to widen debate about whether Britain should follow the example of U.S. states and individuals who have spearheaded antitobacco legal battles in the last three years. U.S. tobacco firms reached a landmark settlement of $368.6 billion four months ago and admitted that their product was addictive. ``The United States is several years ahead of us in using litigation to attack the tobacco industry,'' Chisolm told reporters. British health bodies should consider ``changing the climate in the U.K.'' and turning public anger against the tobacco industry, he said. The BMA said it was asking whether it should encourage tobacco litigation by those harmed by smoking and whether criminal proceedings, or even corporate manslaughter charges, should be considered. The BMA staged the meeting, which it said was the first of its kind in Britain, in conjunction with an antismoking lobby group and two U.S. legal experts with experience of antitobacco lawsuits. Bill O'Neill, a second BMA spokesman, said the tobacco industry had implemented a sustained and sophisticated legal and public relations strategy to avoid liability for smokingrelated diseases. ``Lawyers and scientists in the pocket of the industry deliberately steered others away from particular research avenues. The record must be set straight,'' he said. The tobacco industry's own body, the Tobacco Advisory Council, was unavailable for comment.