TOBACCO CONTROL LAWS

In re Tobacco/Government Health Care Costs Litigation (Guatemala v. The Tobacco Institute)

Guatemala sued nine individual tobacco companies and the tobacco industry's public relations and research organizations.  Guatemala claims that it failed to adequately regulate the use of tobacco products by its citizens because of misrepresentations regarding the health impacts of tobacco, as well as anticompetitive behavior.  Guatemala seeks to recover the health care costs it incurred in treating its citizens' smoking-related illnesses. The Court dismisses Guatemala's claims because the alleged injury is too remote and completely derivative of the injuries suffered by individual Guatemalan smokers.

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Guatemala v. The Tobacco Institute, Inc., et al., 83 F.Supp.2d 125, United States District Court, District of Columbia (1999)

  • United States
  • Dec 30, 1999
  • District Court of the District of Columbia

Parties

Plaintiff Guatemala

Defendant

  • BAT Industries, PLC
  • British-American Tobacco Co., Ltd./Batus Holdings, Inc.
  • Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation
  • Liggett Group, Inc.
  • Phillip Morris Companies, Inc.
  • The Tobacco Institute, Inc.
  • Tobacco Research USA

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

None

Type of Litigation

Health Care Cost Recovery
Governments or insurance agencies may seek reimbursement from the tobacco companies for health care costs related to tobacco. The most famous example is the case brought by individual states in the U.S.A. that resulted in the Master Settlement Agreement.

Tobacco Control Topics

Contents and Disclosures Measures
Measures for testing, measuring, regulating, or disclosing the contents and emissions of tobacco products. (See FCTC Arts. 9 and 10)
Packaging and Labeling Measures
Measures to regulate the marketing on tobacco packages. This includes both bans on false, misleading, deceptive packaging, as well as required health warnings on packaging. (See FCTC Art. 11)
Cessation
Measures to promote cessation of tobacco use and adequate treatment for tobacco dependence. (See FCTC Art. 14)

Substantive Issues

Right to Health
A violation of the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. Public health advocates may claim the public’s right to health is violated by weak tobacco control measures, industry tactics, or an organization’s or smokers’ actions.

Type of Tobacco Product

None

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