Jump to full article: WBUR-FM (Boston, MA), 2009-10-19
Author: SACHA PFEIFFER
Intro: The highest court in Massachusetts ruled unanimously Monday that cigarette maker Philip Morris may have to pay for computerized chest scans for its customers in an effort to detect early-stage lung cancer.
In its ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld a federal lawsuit filed in 2006 by three Massachusetts residents -- Patricia Cawley of Rockland, Kathleen Donovan of Randolph and James Teague of Lowell -- who each wanted a diagnostic chest exam known as a CT screening, but whose health insurance plans would not cover the scans.
Lawyers for the three plaintiffs -- all of them long-time smokers -- argued in the suit that Philip Morris should have to pay for their CT screens because the company had manufactured a product that contains a known carcinogen, putting its customers at high risk of lung cancer.
Boston attorney Neil T. Leifer is one of the plaintiffs' lawyers.
"We allege that Philip Morris made a defective product that contained carcinogens at a time when they could have made a safe product," Leifer said, "and as a result there are a lot of people who used their product and are at risk for lung cancer."
So, he says, Philip Morris should have to foot the bill for a test that could help save their lives.
Jump to full article » |