Subject:
             PA Settlement Update - Media Accounts
        Date:
             Fri, 01 Oct 1999 12:53:31 -0400
       From:
             "Robert B. Sklaroff, MD" <rsklaroff@home.com>
 Organization:
             @Home Network
         To:
             Multiple recipients of list INTL-TOBACCO <intl-tobacco@essential.org>,
             Settlement Talk Discussion List <settlement-talk@smokescreen.org>
 
 
 

Articles (10/1/99) were published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Montgomery County Record; others
(Harrisburg Patriot-News and AP) will be forwarded upon receipt.
Appended also is the Press Release issued by General Fisher.

*

http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Oct/01/pa_north/NSMOK01.htm

Doctor is asked to step aside on tobacco deal

The state can't collect $11.3 billion because of the appeal filed by a
Montco cancer specialist.

By Glen Justice and Rena Singer
INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU

HARRISBURG -- The state Attorney General and a member of Gov. Ridge's
cabinet appealed yesterday to the lone activist blocking Pennsylvania's
approval of the nationwide tobacco settlement to drop his appeal.

The move was part of a continuing campaign by state officials to get
activists and other opponents to step aside, clearing the way for court
approval -- and Pennsylvania's $11.3 billion payday.

The settlement between 46 states and the nation's largest cigarette
makers will pay the plaintiffs $206 billion over 25 years as
reimbursement for money spent treating sick smokers. But it must be
approved in state courts nationwide.

Standing in the way in Pennsylvania is Dr. Robert Sklaroff, a Montgomery
County cancer specialist who often represents himself in court. As other
settlement critics backed away under state pressure, Sklaroff has
maintained his crusade against the settlement.

He argues that language in the settlement will make it more difficult
for activists and others to sue tobacco companies and that any money
awarded in such a suit could be deducted from the state's settlement
money.

But he has been denied standing to fight the settlement in Philadelphia
Common Pleas Court, where a judge approved the settlement months ago,
and in an appeal to Commonwealth Court.

Now, he has 26 days from today to request that the state Supreme Court
take the case. If he does and the court chooses to hear it, the
settlement will be held up for as long as the case takes. If he does
not, Pennsylvania will have its approval -- and probably its money.

Attorney General Mike Fisher, Secretary of Administration Tom Pease, and
members of the health care community made a rare public appeal to
Sklaroff yesterday.

"All we need is for Dr. Sklaroff to refrain from appealing any further,"
Fisher said. "He could tie up Pennsylvania's payment for months or
years. We'd be left high and dry while other states spend their money on
health care."

Fisher said the settlement did not prevent future lawsuits. He said that
individuals or groups were free to sue tobacco companies and that any
award would not affect the state's settlement. However, should a
municipality or county sue the industry, an award would come out of the
state's settlement.

Sklaroff watched the officials from the back of the room. Then he
mounted the Capitol steps to hold a news conference in which he argued
that the settlement language was vague and could be used by the industry
as a defense against public-interest lawsuits. He made similar arguments
to a House committee yesterday on a bill that would introduce elements
of the settlement into Pennsylvania law.

Sklaroff said he wanted Fisher to meet with him and stipulate on paper
that public-interest suits were not hindered by the settlement. He
accused Fisher of "running interference" for the tobacco industry.  He
said he probably would appeal.

Yesterday was not the first time that state officials leaned on those
questioning the settlement. When Fisher sought court approval for the
settlement months ago, several parties -- including hospitals, activists
and Allegheny County -- tried to intervene. All were denied.

When it came time to file appeals, lawyers working for Fisher sent a
letter to the activists, threatening to sue them under state laws that
prohibit frivolous filings. It said they could be liable for the state's
legal fees, plus 6 percent interest on the settlement funds. Activists
said it was intimidating.

Only Sklaroff and Allegheny County appealed. Later, Allegheny County
dropped out.

*

http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/19991001tobacco2.asp

State, groups urge doctor to drop tobacco suit

By John M. R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent

HARRISBURG -- Anti-smoking and health organizations yesterday urged a
Montgomery County oncologist to drop his lawsuit to block the state's
$11.3 billion settlement with the tobacco industry.

The groups are battling over how to divide the money. But efforts by Dr.
Robert Sklaroff to block the settlement are delaying release of the
funds and could ultimately jeopardize it.

The settlement, reached last year, must be free of legal challenge by
Dec. 31,
2001 or it will be nullified and the state would be "out in the cold"
and have to
sue again, said Attorney General Mike Fisher, who joined health and
anti-smoking groups in urging Sklaroff to drop the challenge.

Sklaroff sat in on yesterday's press conference and later said he would
appeal his case to the state Supreme Court.

"Basically, I am unmoved," he said. "A lot of people like what I'm
doing."

His two main objections to the settlement are that it does not expressly
allow
individuals in the future to sue tobacco companies for wrongful deaths
and does not specify that the settlement fund cannot be tapped to pay
damages from those private suits.

Sklaroff said a tobacco company recently lost a case in Oregon and
promptly argued that the damage award should be taken out of settlement
money earmarked for the state.

He said he is in favor of the tobacco industry paying the state
reparations for
smoking-related expenditures over the years but believes the settlement
doesn't go far enough.

Sklaroff's lawsuit and appeals are delaying release of the settlement
money and that is not benefiting state residents, said Carolyn F.
Scanlan, chief executive officer of the Hospital & Healthsystem
Association of Pennsylvania.

"Dr. Sklaroff has an obligation to act responsibly and compassionately
and end his court fight to stop the tobacco industry settlement," she
said.

Pennsylvania's anti-smoking and health organizations have been arguing
over what to do with the settlement money for months, officials said
yesterday.

Cancer centers want $3 billion of it for research.

Minority groups want some of the funding to subsidize the nicotine
"patch" for
minority smokers.

Hospitals want some of the money to treat patients who are not insured.

One-quarter of the money should be used for anti-smoking advertising or
the
state's children will be "doomed," said Jeff Barg, chairman of the
Tobacco-free Education and Action Coalition for Health.

"Treatment of and research on tobacco-related diseases cannot substitute
for
prevention and cessation programs," he said. "Treatment and research
already are better funded than prevention or cessation programs."

Other groups argue there already is plenty of anti-smoking advertising.

Hospitals want a piece of the pie to cover costs for the uninsured and
underinsured, and to improve the overall delivery of medical care,
Scanlan said.

Every major cancer research center in the state has advocated that 25
percent of the settlement go to cancer research, said Francis J. McKay,
executive vice president of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

Over the next 10 years, 700,000 state residents will be diagnosed with
cancer, and 300,000 will die without improvements in treatment, which
requires research, he said.

The Ridge administration has held hundreds of meetings with the
organizations, and a consensus has not been reached, conceded Thomas
Pease, state secretary of administration.

"Reasonable minds are going to differ," Pease said. "Compromise is going
to occur."

Eventually, the administration and the special interest groups will
reach an accord and have it approved by the General Assembly, Pease
said.

But first, the lawsuit against the tobacco settlement must go away, he
said.

Sklaroff was twice defeated in Commonwealth Court, which last week
refused to reconsider a ruling that he has no legal standing to
challenge the
settlement.

*

http://www.phillyburbs.com/intelligencerrecord/news/news_all/475304.htm

State asks doctor to drop challenge to settlement

By John L. Micek, Staff Writer
 
The deal with the tobacco industry is worth $11 billion to
Pennsylvanians. The Montco resident will probably appeal to the state
Supreme Court.

HARRISBURG —State Attorney General Mike Fisher has asked a
Philadelphia-area
cancer specialist to drop his challenge to the state's landmark
settlement with the tobacco industry, saying Pennsylvanians risk losing
their $11.2 billion share of the $206 billion nationwide settlement if
he does not.

But oncologist Robert B. Sklaroff of Elkins Park, Montgomery County,
remained defiant on Thursday and accused Fisher of creating "an
incestuous relationship between Big Tobacco and Big Government."

"I am unmoved," Sklaroff said during a press conference on the Capitol
steps. Sklaroff is the sole obstacle to the state claiming its share of
the money.

Just an hour earlier, Fisher, flanked by some of the state's top medical
and public health experts, asked Sklaroff to drop his challenge to the
settlement, which has already been rejected by the Philadelphia Court of
Common Pleas and twice denied by Commonwealth Court.

"I'm hoping the words of the groups assembled on this stage will make
Dr. Sklaroff see that it is important to protect the lives of
Pennsylvanians and to move forward," Fisher said.

The meter is ticking for the state. Pennsylvania has to clear up all
outstanding  legal challenges by Dec. 31, 2001. Otherwise, it's back to
square one. The state will lose its share of the money and would have to
sue the industry all over again, Fisher said. A successful appeal to the
state Supreme Court could take months to argue and decide, he added.

Among those who joined Fisher on Thursday were F. Jay McKay, the
executive vice
president of the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia; Roger F.
Mecum, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society and
Jeffrey Barg, chairman of Tobacco-Free Education and Action Coalition
for Health.

Barg, whose group dropped its challenge to the settlement earlier this
year, asked all the parties involved in the legal fight to reach an
agreement and for the state to throw its support to a tobacco prevention
program that will claim about 25 percent of Pennsylvania's share of the
settlement.

"We desperately need the 25 percent," Barg said. "Without it, we are
dooming millions of our kids to preventable, premature deaths and
dooming Pennsylvania taxpayers to spend far more in tobacco-related
health costs than we will receive in tobacco settlement dollars."

The Commonwealth Court ruled in August that Sklaroff lacked the legal
standing to
challenge the settlement. Within days, the physician filed a motion
asking the court to reconsider its decision. The court rejected that
petition last week.

Under the law, Sklaroff has 30 days to appeal to the state Supreme Court
—an action the state hopes to avoid, but now appears inevitable.

"I have 30 days. I would think so," Sklaroff said when asked whether he
would appeal.

Sklaroff has challenged two main provisions of the state's settlements.
One gives limited immunity to the tobacco industry against future
lawsuits. The other, known as municipal offset, allows the industry to
deduct settlement money paid to local
governments from the state's $11.2 billion settlement.

"I don't want people who want to sue the tobacco industry to be stopped
from doing
so," he said.

The 46 states participating in the nationwide settlement with such
industry giants as Phillip Morris and R.J. Reynolds are close to meeting
the legal threshold for the release of the first settlement payments.
Pennsylvania could receive its first payment of $142 million within
weeks if Sklaroff drops his challenge, Fisher said.

Under the terms of the master settlement agreement, 80 percent of the
states that make up 80 percent of the total settlement money must
resolve all outstanding legal claims before the money can flow.

As of Thursday, 66.9 percent of that first threshold had been reached as
37 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories resolved
their legal problems, Fisher said.  The tally could go as high as 79.7
percent in the coming weeks as California, which claims 12.8 percent of
the total settlement, resolves its last legal challenges.

Eight states, Pennsylvania among them, have not reached what's being
called
"state-specific finality," on their outstanding legal claims.
Pennsylvania claims 5.7 percent of the total settlement money.

"If Pennsylvania's settlement is allowed to stand, and is not challenged
to a higher court, we could be the state that triggers the first
payments to the states," Fisher said.  "It would also mean that
Pennsylvania would receive its first payment of $142 million and a total
of $545 million over the next seven months —funds that could be used for
smoking cessation programs, cancer research and health insurance for
children and needy Pennsylvanians."

*

Company Press Release

SOURCE: Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General

Pennsylvania Attorney General Fisher Announces That States are Close To
Receiving Tobacco Funds; Urges Doctor to Drop PA Appeal

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney General Mike Fisher
and
representatives from health and anti-tobacco groups today announced that
the states soon may receive their first payments under the $206 billion
settlement with the tobacco industry.

Fisher said Pennsylvania's $11.3 billion settlement was upheld last
Friday when Commonwealth Court declined to reconsider an appeal filed
against it. If no further appeals are filed, Fisher said Pennsylvania
would receive $142 million as its first payment and a total of $543
million in the next eight months.

``If Pennsylvania's settlement is allowed to stand, and is not delayed
by yet another round of appeals, we could be the state that triggers the
first payments to the states under the $206 billion national
settlement,'' Fisher said. ``It would also mean that Pennsylvania would
receive its first payment of $142 million -- funds that could be used
for smoking cessation programs, cancer research and health insurance for
children and needy Pennsylvanians.''

In November 1998, Fisher joined seven other Attorneys General in
Washington, D.C., to announce that they had negotiated an historic
settlement with the tobacco industry. The settlement imposed sweeping
bans on tobacco advertising, stopped the tobacco companies from
targeting children and paid the states $206 billion in recovery funds.

Under the settlement, each state needs court approval of its settlement.
On Jan. 13, 1999, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge John W. Herron
approved Pennsylvania's settlement with the tobacco industry. However,
Dr. Robert Sklaroff of Elkins Park had filed a motion to intervene.
Herron denied the motion, saying among other things that Sklaroff had no
legal standing to object to the settlement.

Sklaroff then appealed Judge Herron's decision to Commonwealth Court. On
Aug. 10,
Commonwealth Court rejected Sklaroff's appeal on several grounds,
including that he had no standing. Sklaroff then asked Commonwealth
Court to reconsider its decision. Last Friday, the Commonwealth Court
reaffirmed its decision to reject the appeal.

Fisher and representatives from several health and anti-tobacco groups
called on Sklaroff to drop his appeal, rather than seeking a new appeal
in the state Supreme Court. Fisher said Pennsylvania will not receive
any recovery funds if an appeal is pending.

``We would be left high and dry,'' Fisher said. ``While other states
spend millions on cancer research and smoking cessation programs,
Pennsylvania would continue to fight this senseless legal battle in the
courts.''

Fisher's comments were echoed by health and anti-tobacco officials.

``The court has spoken not once, but twice on Dr. Sklaroff's case, and
has resoundingly said his argument does not have merit,'' said Carolyn
F. Scanlon, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital and
Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. ``Each day that Dr. Sklaroff
continues this crusade is a day that hurts the people of Pennsylvania
who should be the direct beneficiaries of this settlement.''

``It's time that the Commonwealth's citizens benefit from the public
health programs that can be enhanced by the tobacco settlement funds,''
said Roger F. Mecum, Executive Vice President of the Pennsylvania
Medical Society. ``Curing our tobacco-related health problems should be
our highest priority.''

F. Jay McKay, Executive Vice President of Fox Chase Cancer Center in
Philadelphia, said that the statewide Cancer Center Alliance has called
in the General Assembly to allocate 25 percent of recovery funds for
cancer research. McKay characterized Pennsylvania's settlement as a
``financial victory'' over the tobacco companies.

``Now, we can focus on putting the money to work for Pennsylvanians,''
McKay said.

Nationwide, Fisher explained, 37 states, the District of Columbia and
five territories have reached what is known as confirmed State Specific
Finality, meaning they have no appeals pending against their
settlements. Those states add up to 66.9 percent of the total $206
billion allocation.

Under the national settlement, the tobacco industry will make its first
payments to the states once 80 percent of the states, representing 80
percent of the allocation, reach confirmed State Specific Finality.

Fisher said California, which accounts for 12.8 percent of the
allocation, is expected to reach State Specific Finality in the next
week. That would bring the total of states with confirmed State Specific
Finality to 79.7 percent.

Fisher said Pennsylvania, with its 5.7 percent share, would be in a
position to trigger the first payments for all the settling states if
Pennsylvania could reach its goal of State Specific Finality.

However, Fisher warned that if Sklaroff files another appeal
Pennsylvania's $142 million first payment and its $543 million over the
next eight months could be delayed for months and possibly years.

``That would mean that every state would receive its share of the $2.4
billion first payment, except Pennsylvania,'' Fisher said. ``We would
still be defending a legal battle in court while other states are
improving the health of their citizens.''