Subject:
             article about supreme court decision
        Date:
             Fri, 24 Dec 1999 00:38:10 -0800
       From:
             "Robert B. Sklaroff, MD" <rsklaroff@home.com>
 Organization:
             @Home Network
 
 
 

http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com/stories/A12103-1999Dec21.html
 
 
 
 

                 Finally, Pa. On Board With
                 Tobacco Settlement
 
 
 
 

                 April White
                 Pennsylvania Law Weekly
                 December 22, 1999
 
 
 

                 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court cleared the final
                 obstacle to the state's $11.3 billion tobacco
                 settlement with a single sentence: "The petition for
                 review is denied."

                 The order, entered on Dec. 17 and announced by
                 the Office of the Attorney General yesterday,
                 ended Elkins Park oncologist Dr. Robert B.
                 Sklaroff's quest to block Pennsylvania's
                 participation in the $206 billion nationwide
                 settlement.

                 According to court filings, Sklaroff, an anti-smoking
                 activist, was concerned about limitations on future
                 claims against the tobacco companies.

                 Sklaroff said Tuesday that he will explore all legal
                 options to continue his challenge to the
                 settlement, including an appeal to the U.S.
                 Supreme Court.

                 Pennsylvania's first payments from the tobacco
                 industry -- estimated at more than $266 million --
                 which were delayed due to Sklaroff's repeated
                 appeals, are expected in the next few weeks.
                 Another $200 million payment is scheduled for
                 April 15, 2000.

                 The state will receive the third highest amount of
                 settlement monies, after California and New York.

                 "The court's ruling is great news for our state and
                 the health of our citizens," Attorney General Mike
                 Fisher said in a prepared statement released
                 yesterday.

                 The Supreme Court's decision ended the
                 protracted case with "a whimper, not a bang," said
                 Reeder R. Fox of Duane Morris & Hecksher, who
                 served as co-counsel to Fisher in the matter.

                 "This matter has been reviewed by three courts.
                 This is the end," he said yesterday.

                 The nationwide tobacco settlement -- which
                 prohibits the tobacco industry from targeting
                 children with its advertising campaigns and sets
                 other marketing bans on the industry -- was
                 announced in November 1998.

                 The settlement includes a 25-year moratorium on
                 litigation against the tobacco companies.

                 Prior to the agreement, the Pennsylvania had been
                 embroiled in two years of litigation seeking
                 compensation for the expense of treating of
                 tobacco-related diseases, mainly in the state's
                 Medicaid program.

                 Under the national settlement, the tobacco
                 industry agreed to make its first payments to the
                 states when 80 percent of the states representing
                 80 percent of the total settlement funds, had
                 approved the settlement.

                 In January 1999, over petitions from a coalition of
                 hospitals, Allegheny County and several public
                 interest anti-tobacco groups including the Coalition
                 for Tobacco Free Pennsylvania, with which Sklaroff
                 was initially associated, Philadelphia Common
                 Pleas Court Administrative Judge John W. Herron
                 signed an order approving the settlement in which
                 the state will receive $11.3 billion over 25 years.

                 Sklaroff and Allegheny County appealed the
                 decision.

                 On Nov. 12, the 80-percent goal was reached.
                 Pennsylvania's participation remained in limbo.

                 In early August, the Commonwealth Court had
                 granted a motion to discontinue the appeal of
                 Allegheny County, leaving Sklaroff as the only
                 remaining litigant. One day later, the court had
                 affirmed Herron's approval of the settlement and his
                 decision that Sklaroff lacked standing to intervene
                 in the case.

                 "Dr. Sklaroff seeks to represent the public interest
                 and seeks relief on behalf of the public at large,"
                 Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter wrote for the
                 Commonwealth Court. "However, as the trial court
                 noted, a general interest common to all citizens is
                 insufficient to confer standing."

                 Sklaroff then filed for allocatur in the case.

                 The Supreme Court's refusal of allocatur will allow
                 the state to collect nearly $407 million in 2000, the
                 Attorney General said.

                 "I urge the General Assembly and the governor to
                 use this money wisely to improve the health of our
                 citizens," Fisher added. "These funds could help
                 find a cure for cancer, offer health insurance to
                 needy Pennsylvanians and prevent our children
                 from using tobacco products."

                 The Associated Press, Michael Riccardi and
                 Robert L. Sharpe Jr. contributed to this report.