President Bill Clinton’s administration has launched its biggest assault yet
on an old foe: the American tobacco industry. A lawsuit filed by Attorney
General Janet Reno last week accuses six major companies of a 40-year conspiracy
to get smokers addicted and hide the health effects of smoking. The suit seeks
reimbursement for the $25 billion a year that the federal government
estimates it pays out to treat smoking-related illnesses.
It is similar to suits brought by individual US states. They settled last
November for a total of $206 billion in damages to be paid over 25
years.
