5 years after historic tobacco ruling, ‘nothing has changed’

WATCH ABOVE: Five years ago, Quebec's highest court upheld a landmark ruling that ordered three major tobacco companies to pay billions of dollars to smokers who fell ill or got addicted. But the roughly 100,000 members of the two class action lawsuits still haven't received a cent. Katherine Ward has this story and more in Health Matters for July 2, 2024.

But five years later, none of them have seen even a fraction of that money – and recent court filings suggest hundreds have died in the interim.Jean-Luc Duval holds a picture of his late wife, Monique, in his home Friday, June 14, 2024, in Repentigny, Que.“Not only have we not received a cent, but absolutely nothing has changed,” Duval, 80, wrote in French in a recent open letter to the Quebec government.

A Quebec Superior Court judge first ordered the payment in 2015 after finding the three companies – Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans-Benson & Hedges – had chosen profits over the health of their customers.The province’s Appeal Court then upheld the landmark decision, prompting the companies to seek creditor protection in Ontario.

By nature, the process centres on industry viability, sidelining the public health and justice elements of the case, she said. It essentially allows the companies to continue operating as usual as they restructure – and get more people addicted in the process, she said. A spokesperson for Quebec’s health ministry said only that the province wants compensation for expenses incurred since the implementation of its health insurance program, as well as those expected until 2030.

“It does look like it’s primarily financial and it’s based on instalments,” she said, which means “having future and current victims use products to compensate past victims and provinces.”

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

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