General Tobacco Sues Attorneys General, Accuses Them of Conspiring to Stifle Competition

Source from:  biz.yahoo.com NEW YORK (AP) Tuesday October 28 2008 10/30/2008

A North Carolina tobacco company said Tuesday it has sued 52 attorneys general and 19 other tobacco makers for conspiring to stifle competition with their creation of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. General Tobacco asked for more than $1 billion in damages. It accuses the attorneys general of violating its Constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment as well as the Sherman Antitrust Act. The company argues that the Master Settlement Agreement -- between tobacco companies and the states -- is more expensive for new entrants to the industry. "The structure for the MSA created an impossible business environment for future competitors especially small players such as GT," the company's executive vice president, J. Ronald Denman, said in a statement. "All we are asking for is a level playing field for everyone." The 1998 agreement requires those tobacco manufacturers who signed on to make annual payments to the states, in part to compensate them for billions of dollars in health care costs related to treating tobacco-related diseases under state Medicaid programs. General Tobacco said in a statement that it has paid about $470 million under the MSA and has another $36 million in escrow. The company sued in U.S. District Court in Louisville, Ky. Enditem