Jump to full article: Bloomberg News, 2008-04-14
Author: Joe Schneider
Intro: A judge threw out a lawsuit by Rothmans Inc. and other tobacco companies that sought to blame the Canadian government for health-related costs incurred by British Columbia.
The province sued the companies in 2001, seeking to recover billions of dollars spent by its government-funded health-care system to treat people with diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer. The companies sued Canada last year, claiming federal officials were responsible for the costs.
``The allegations cannot succeed because Canada is immune to liability,'' British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Catherine Wedge wrote in an April 11 ruling in Vancouver. Only Parliament can lift the immunity, she said.
Tobacco companies have unsuccessfully fought a British Columbia law that lets the province collect damages if it shows the cigarette makers breached an obligation to customers by failing to inform them of the risks of smoking. Ontario and other provinces have passed laws to allow similar suits.
Wedge also denied the companies' request for a finding that they committed no ``tobacco-related wrongs,'' saying that will be determined at trial.
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