Jump to full article: Associated Press (AP), 2006-06-14
Author: DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer
Intro: Cigarette makers asked a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit by a group seeking to recover at least $60 billion spent by Medicare on smoking-related illnesses.
United Seniors Association Inc., a Virginia-based lobbying group for senior citizens, sued six tobacco companies last year, claiming they intentionally concealed the addictive properties of their cigarettes and should be held liable for Medicare's expenditures to treat illnesses such as lung cancer and emphysema.
The suit seeks to force the tobacco companies to reimburse Medicare - the health-insurance plan for the elderly and disabled - for the money it has spent on smoking-related illnesses since 1999. . . .
Attorneys for the tobacco companies argue that United Seniors has no legal standing to sue because it is not claiming any injury of its own, but instead seeking to recover alleged losses by the federal government under the Medicare program.
But Charlie Jarvis, chairman and chief executive of United Seniors, said that under a provision of the Medicare as Secondary Payer law, private citizens can seek to recover government losses on behalf of taxpayers.
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