Jump to full article: Associated Press (AP), 2001-02-22
Author: Martin Finucane / Associated Press Writer
Intro: Massachusetts is unfairly taking the property of dead smokers to pay for medical care even though the state has been reimbursed as part of a multibillion-dollar tobacco settlement, a lawsuit contends.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court on behalf of the estate of Mary Watkins, who smoked cigarettes for 25 years before she died three years ago from smoking-related illness.
Attorney Louis Massery said the lawsuit appeared to be a first and challenges a system in place in states nationwide. He is asking a judge to give it class-action status. . .
The lawsuit asks for an end to the seizure policy and the return of money collected from those who suffered tobacco-related illnesses going back to the early 1990s.
Rich McGreal, a spokesman for the Division of Medical Assistance, defended the program.
"We're obliged to do this under both state and federal law," he said. "By recouping this money, we're basically putting the money back into the system" where it can be used to help other people.
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