Jump to full article: AP, 2001-11-19
Author: WILLIAM McCALL / AP Business Writer
Intro: A woman who quit smoking after 40 years filed a class-action lawsuit Monday seeking to force tobacco companies to pay for medical tests that could detect smoking-related diseases.
An attorney for Philip Morris said the lawsuit is nearly identical to a class-action suit rejected last week by a West Virginia jury.
Patsy Lowe, 61, argues cigarette makers must help prevent any disease their product causes Oregonians . . .
The Oregon lawsuit asks the tobacco companies to pay for spiral CT scans - a new three-dimensional form of computerized X-rays - that can detect lung cancer tumors at their earliest and most treatable stage.
Bill Gaylord, an attorney for Lowe, said the scans typically cost about $325, which likely will discourage many people from asking for them.
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