Tobacco Documents Online

.DISCUSSION DRAFT WV Victory Mac/(m)/Advocate Folder 04v -1- More Dismissals Exnected 1~ ~ ~e Key Components of West Virginia Me icaid Suit Dismissed by Judge The first dismissal has occurred in the chain of more than 20 state Medicaid reimbursement lawsuits pending against the tobacco industry. On Friday, February 14, West Virginia Circuit Judge Irene C. Berger sent a six page letter to lawyers on both sides of the litigation saying she intended to dismiss 11 of the 14 counts in the state Medicaid lawsuit brought against the tobacco industry by West Virginia Attorney General Victor Woods. A motion to dismiss two of the remaining three counts was scheduled for later in February. Judge Berger ruled that the attorney general's office did not have the right to sue on the behalf of smokers for personal injuries allegedly caused by tobacco use. The ruling is expected to have wide implications in every one of the other states where similar lawsuits are pending. [Note: For more information see the State Medicaid ~ ~ Lawsuits section of the r.;t.iqation Update on page TK. ~~ /] Gregory G. Little, senior assistant general counsel for Philip Morris(Companies Inc~ said "This suit, like the other so-called Medicaid reimbursement suits filed by various attorneys general throughout the country is a thinly disguised attempt to ignore established law.

DISCUSSION DRAFT WV Victory Mac/(m)/Advocate Folder -2- "We are delighted with Judge Berger's opinion," Little said," and we look forward to seeing a wave of similar dismissals of these baseless claims throughout the country in the coming months." West Virginia was among the first states to initiate this kind of lawsuit against the industry; now it is the first state to see its claims dismissed. # # #