четверг, 26 мая 2011 г.

Medical marijuana doctor's license suspended for selling state certificates

A Macomb County physician’s medical license has been suspended for allegedly conspiring to sell medical marijuana certificates from a clinic in the back of a Warren appliance store.

Lois Butler-Jackson, 50, of Detroit, is the subject of an investigation by Clinton Township police for allegedly issuing hundreds of pre-signed medical marijuana physician’s certificates. Those certificates were then sold for cash by medical marijuana business partner Brian Deloose out of his Warren appliance store, also advertised as a “safe clinic access” location.

The city of Holland and Park Township are working on regulations that would strictly regulate medical marijuana. Holland Township last week passed an ordinance that would effectively ban medical marijuana dispensaries.

Deloose, a licensed medical marijuana caregiver, allegedly sold hundreds of medical marijuana registration packets, complete with the physician certificates pre-signed by Butler-Jackson, to prospective patients for $250 each.

Butler-Jackson allegedly received a $100 payment for each new registration packet and $50 for each renewal packet sold at the Warren appliance store, giving her between $20,000 and $30,000 in profits.

Tax deduction for marijuana supplies

Bongs and rolling paper a tax-deductible business expense? A Colorado congressman has introduced legislation allowing marijuana-related businesses to claim deductions. Congressman Jared Polis says medical marijuana dispensaries should be allowed the same sort of federal tax deductions as other small businesses. Medical marijuana is legal in Colorado. But the IRS doesn't allow pot-related deductions because the weed still violates federal law.

Health Experts Alarmed By 'Candy Like' Tobacco Products

candy Tobacco Products

Health experts are sounding the alarm about some new tobacco products that are being test-marketed in Denver.
They’re called dissolvables.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco began selling Camel Orbs, Camel Sticks and Camel Strips earlier this year.
“The Orbs look like Tic Tacs, the Sticks look like toothpicks and the Strips look like breath strips,” said Susan Westof, tobacco prevention specialist, with the Jefferson County Public Health Department.
Westof said these new products, combined with existing snus and colorfully wrapped, fruit-flavored mini-cigars, are very enticing to young people.
“The products are packaged in a way that makes them indistinguishable from candy,” said Donna Viverette, the department’s tobacco prevention coordinator. “That’s an issue if they end up in the hands of children.”
Viverette added, “We’re talking about a developing young brain. We’re talking about a serious impact on the neuro-chemistry and maybe even function of the brain because of the changes caused by nicotine dependence.”
But R.J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard disputes the allegations.
He told 7NEWS that the dissolvable products are not candy flavored and are not being marketed toward kids.
Howard said the products are made with a finely milled tobacco and may contain a mint flavor that has been used by the company for decades.
But recent Golden High School graduates Hussam Hasoon, 18, and Chris Langworthy, 18, said the dissolvables smelled like chocolate mint.
Hasoon and Langworthy were members of Golden High Schools “Breathe Easy” team, which is raising awareness about the problems of youth access to tobacco.
“They look more like kid tobacco products than adult tobacco products,” Langworthy said.
Westof noted that the dissolvables come in packages with the same color scheme as a popular chewing gum.
When asked if the tobacco company might consider changing the packaging, Howard said, “We already have.”
He said R.J. Reynolds changed the size and shape of the packaging after getting feedback during market tests in Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis and Portland, Oregon.
“The packages are now about the same size as a pack of cigarettes,” Howard said.
He added that they are clearly labeled tobacco and carry a warning to keep out of the reach of children.
But Viverette worries that because the products look like candy, teachers and even parents might not know that kids are using them.
“An undiscerning eye wouldn’t know that it was a nicotine filled product that equals the amount of three cigarettes smoked,” Viverette said.
“We need to warn people that these products are out there,” she said.
Howard said the dissolvables are only marketed to adults and that they provide a way for consumers to enjoy tobacco without bothering others.
“There’s no second-hand smoke,” he said. “There’s no spitting and there’s no litter or cigarette butts.”
But Viverette countered by saying, “There is no safe level of tobacco or tobacco smoke.”

Smokeless tobacco is not a viable way to skirt smoking laws

skirt smoking laws

Leave it to a tobacco company to try to maintain a deadly grip on its customer base.

Reynolds American Inc. recently launched an advertising campaign for Camel Snus, a smokeless brand of chewing tobacco. The premise behind the campaign apparently is an effort to skirt antismoking laws that are becoming more prevalent in the country, and especially in New York City.

A report in the Wall Street Journal notes a wider effort by Reynolds to counteract declines in cigarette consumption in the United States. The Journal also reported that U.S. cigarette consumption has been declining at a rate of almost 4 percent nationally in terms of volume while smokeless tobacco use has been increasing almost 7 percent annually.

A Reynolds American executive has said potential for long-term growth for the product is good and said many users are in their 20s.

Young people, be warned. According to reports posted on the website of the Mayo Clinic, the long-term use of chewing tobacco and other smokeless tobacco products can cause serious health problems.

The Mayo Clinic stresses that those who use smokeless tobacco are very likely to become addicted. Too, there is a real risk of cancer of the esophagus, mouth, throat, cheek, gums, lips and tongue. These types of cancer can be life-threatening, and surgery to remove cancer from these areas can leave patients disfigured.

Anti-smoking laws have many health-related merits. We know of people who have simply quit smoking in the months since South Dakota enacted its sweeping law late last year.

Hopefully, more people will consider dropping the habit altogether, rather than simply switching to an equally risky form of tobacco.

Smokeless tobacco isn’t the answer.

WHO calls for strict enforcement of laws curbing 'tobacco epidemic'

tobacco epidemic

Some 900 million people regularly exposed to tobacco smoke are at risk of developing tobacco-related diseases that kill nearly six million people each year globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In a statement ahead of the global observance of “No Tobacco Day,” the WHO urged governments to pass and enforce strict national laws that will curb what it calls the “tobacco epidemic.”

The world observes the “No Tobacco Day” on May 31 and WHO called on different stakeholders to support legislation complying with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

In the Philippines, health advocates are still lobbying for the passage of the graphic health warnings bill that seeks to print pictures of diseases acquired from tobacco on cigarette packages.

“In our Region, it is estimated that close to half of all men smoke and half of all women and children are regularly exposed to the deadly toxins of second hand smoke at home and in public places. This means that about 900 million people are regularly exposed and at high risk for tobacco–related disease. This has a significant impact not only on health but also on the economy of countries," Dr. Shin Young–soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said.

The global health agency said heart disease, stroke, cancer and emphysema are some of the tobacco-related deaths that account for 63 percent of deaths from non-communicable diseases (non-infectious) in the world.

The WHO official said the socio-economic cost of tobacco use to countries is “a reason for alarm.”

In Australia, the annual social cost of tobacco use is estimated at $40.6 billion in 2004 and 2005.

пятница, 20 мая 2011 г.

83m kgs flue-cured tobacco goes under the hammer

tobacco goes

A TOTAL 83,2 million kgs of flue-cured tobacco valued at US$ 223,1 million has gone under the hammer at the country’s three auction floors since the beginning of the selling season in February, figures released by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) show.

According to TIMB, the deliveries were 38,95% more than the 59,9 million kgs valued at US$182,2 million sold in the same period last year from the two auction floors.

The average price at this year’s selling season is US$2,68, 11,84% less than last year’s average price of US$3,04.

Of the 83,2 million kgs sold, Tobacco Sales Floor handled 24,4 million kgs valued at US$60,2 million, while Boka Tobacco Floors (BTF) sold 10,1million kgs valued US$21,3 million. Millennium Tobacco Floor (MTF) handled 5,5 million kgs of tobacco valued at US$11,6 million.

Contract farmers accounted for 43,1million kg valued at US$130 million. BTF and MTF started auctioning a month and half after the selling season started.
Of the 1 104 964 bales laid, a total of 1 026 622 were sold while 78,34 were rejected.

Analysts said deliveries were expected to increase following the opening of BTF and MTF which has eased congestion at TSF.

According to TIMB, Zimbabwe is expecting 177 million kgs this year from 123 million kgs which earned the country US$347,8 million last year. Government is, however, expecting 200m kgs.

China was the main buyer.

Zimbabwe is the world’s sixth-largest exporter of the flue- cured Virginia tobacco. It lags behind Brazil, India, the United States, Argentina and Tanzania, according to the website of Universal Corp, the world’s biggest tobacco-leaf merchant.

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed TSL Ltd sees tobacco output reaching 150 million kg this year after a doubling in the last season to 123,5 million kgs.

“Tobacco production for 2011 is currently expected to be in excess of 150 million kilogrammes,” TSL said in its commentary accompanying results for the year to October 31 2010.

Fortunes in the tobacco sector have been particularly buoyed by adoption of hard currency regime in the country.

Previously, tobacco growers had suffered from delayed payments against the background of an accelerated erosion of value on the domestic currency which was under severe assault from runaway inflation.

Two-year-old moves running truck while father makes tobacco run

Police say a Muncie man watched from inside a tobacco store Tuesday as his 2-year-old son, left alone in the father's running pickup truck, shifted the vehicle into reverse toward a busy city road and then back into drive, headed for the store.

Fortunately, an off-duty police officer was able to gain control of the vehicle before the youngster was injured.

With a warrant out for his arrest, police said, the father walked outside, shoved the officer and took off running, once again leaving his toddler son behind in the parking lot.

David L. Ferguson, 29, 2938 S. Chippewa Lane, was found about 25 minutes later and jailed on preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent, a Class C felony carrying a standard four-year prison term, and resisting law enforcement, a misdemeanor.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Ferguson stopped at the Discount Tobacco store, 2117 W. Eighth St., around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, leaving his son inside the vehicle with its engine still running.

While Ferguson was inside, the boy was able to place the truck into reverse, sending it toward Batavia Avenue. The youngster then shifted the truck into drive, and it began rolling in the direction of the tobacco store.

That's when John Jett, an off-duty Daleville police officer who had observed what was happening, was reportedly able to get into the unlocked truck and stop it before any collisions occurred, leaving the toddler unharmed.

Ferguson -- the target of a Muncie City Court warrant for failing to pay a fine in a driving-while-suspended case -- then left the store and approached Jett, who identified himself as a police officer.

Ferguson responded by shoving Jett, court documents said, and then fled on foot down a nearby alley.

Muncie police officer Darrin Clark, who found Ferguson about 25 minutes later at an Eighth Street home, said Wednesday he was disappointed in Ferguson's apparent selfishness.

"(Ferguson) was more concerned about himself than his child," Clark said. "If he was a man, he would've came out there when he saw the truck had backed out and took his chances of going to jail."

Clark said Tuesday's incident provided a good lesson for parents who ever think of leaving their children alone in a vehicle.

"You shouldn't leave your child unattended like that any time, even if it's for a minute or two," Clark said. "Especially in an unlocked vehicle left running."

The warrant had been issued for Ferguson's arrest last month after he failed to pay a fine issued in January.

According to Delaware and Randolph county court records, he has also been convicted of burglary (in 2001), theft (2002), resisting law enforcement (2007) and receiving stolen property (2008).

Ferguson was being held Wednesday at the Delaware County jail under a $12,500 bond.

Pinoy doctor wins int'l award for tobacco control

tobacco control

A Filipino became the first Asian to receive the Judy Wilkenfeld Award for International Tobacco Control Excellence, a recognition given to someone who works to reduce tobacco use through policy advocacy.

Neuro-ophthalmologist E. Ulysses Dorotheo received the award during the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ awards gala in Washington last May 18.

The award is bestowed to those who exemplify the traits of American Judy Wilkenfeld, who worked tirelessly to reduce tobacco’s toll for more than 20 years.

Dorotheo has been a tobacco control advocate for over 10 years. At present, he is the director for the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance’s (SEATCA) Southeast Asia Initiative on Tobacco Tax, a five-year project aimed primarily at raising tobacco taxes and prices in the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam.

"The Marlboro cowboy may have ridden out of the US, but we are continually taking on Philip Morris and other transnational tobacco companies in the Philippines and in Asia. We need to fight collectively to ensure that public health is prioritized over international trade," Dorotheo said in a statement.

SEATCA director Bungon Ritthiphakdee lauded Dorotheo’s achievement, saying the medical doctor has been a "true champion of tobacco control and [has] always put forth consensus building in his working style."

Also, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance executive director Maricar Limpin said she is "proud" that the first Asian to be given the Judy Wilkenfeld Award is a Filipino.

"It is a very significant contribution to the pride of Filipinos working in the global community for public health," Limpin said.

Dorotheo has been crucial to efforts to push for higher tobacco taxes and in simplifying the current tax structure in the country, according to non-governmental organization HealthJustice.

"Such efforts will hopefully relieve the government of health costs and curb tobacco use, especially among the youth whom we have to protect from a life-shortening addiction," it said.

The number of Filipinos dying from tobacco-related diseases has ballooned up to 87,600 annually, the group said.

In the Philippines, the use of tobacco seems to be incontrollable as the country has among the lowest cigarette prices in the world, HealthJustice said.

Also last year, a Marikina City court ruled in favor of the Fortune Tobacco Corp. disallowing the Department of Health from implementing an order that requires tobacco firms to place graphic warnings on their product packages.

The court holds that the interest of justice will be better served "if the status quo is maintained," Judge Felix Reyes of the Marikina Regional Trial Court Branch 271 said in a ruling dated July 1, 2010.

Gathering in Hays will discuss dangers of tobacco use

Teenagers from across Kansas will gather in Hays to discuss the danger of tobacco and learn about new tobacco products being marketed to their age group.

The Reality Check Tour will be held Saturday at Fort Hays State. It is sponsored by the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition.

One of the new products being marketed to teens is tobacco sticks. They are available in many Kansas convenience stores.

The coalition's youth outreach coordinator, Erica Anderson, says the flavored tobacco sticks, marketed by Phillip Morris under the Marlboro and Skoal labels, resemble toothpicks and are coated with finely milled tobacco.

The Hays Daily News reports that the coalition says it wants to make youth aware that tobacco companies are trying to get around anti-smoking laws and higher taxes by marketing these products.

понедельник, 16 мая 2011 г.

Rising cig sales push Philip Morris Int'l net up

Cigarette maker Philip Morris

Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc.'s net income grew nearly 13 percent in the first quarter because it sold more cigarettes at higher prices.
The seller of Marlboro and other brands overseas also raised its earnings outlook Thursday. Its shipments grew 1.6 percent from last year's first quarter to 207.9 billion cigarettes.
Net income rose to $1.92 billion, or $1.06 per share, for the period ended March 31. That compares with $1.7 billion, or 90 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding excise taxes, revenue rose 4.5 percent to $6.8 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.04 per share on revenue of $6.95 billion.
The company, which has offices in in New York and Lausanne, Switzerland, increased its full-year earnings forecast to between $4.55 and $4.65 per share. Analysts had expected $4.48.
Its shares rose $1.50, or about 2 percent, to $67.98 in morning trading Thursday.
"Overall our competitiveness is strong and our business is in good shape," CFO Hermann Waldemer said in a conference call with investors.
Especially important were large gains in cigarettes sold Asia, including Indonesia, Korea and Thailand, and the favorable impact of acquiring Fortune Tobacco Co. in the Philippines.
Shipments fell 7.3 percent in the European Union, 5.5 percent in Latin America and Canada, and nearly 1 percent in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Total Marlboro shipments fell 2.9 percent to 68.6 billion cigarettes in the quarter, mainly because of declines in the European Union.
Philip Morris International said its market share increased or remained stable in many key areas.
The company also said it made a $42 million deal in March to acquire International Tobacco & Cigarettes Company Ltd. In Jordan. It said the deal expands its manufacturing footprint in the Middle East.
The deal is expected to close next month. The company will locally produce its brands, as well as newly acquired brands like Kareem, Mercury, Noble and Polo Club.
Smokers face tax hikes, bans, health concerns and social stigma worldwide, but the effect on cigarette demand generally is less stark outside the United States. Philip Morris International has compensated for volume declines by raising its prices and cutting costs.
The company's earnings also were helped slightly by foreign exchange rates for the U.S. dollar. When the dollar is falling, companies that sell goods internationally and must convert revenue from foreign currencies usually increased dollar value for that revenue.
That effect is particularly strong for Philip Morris International, because it does all its business overseas.
The company also said it spent $1.36 billion to buy back 22.2 million shares of stock in the quarter. It plans share repurchases of about $5 billion in 2011 as part of its three-year, $12 billion buyback program that began last May.
Philip Morris International is the world's second-biggest cigarette company after the state-controlled China National Tobacco Corp.
Altria Group Inc. in Richmond, Virginia, owner of Philip Morris USA, spun off Philip Morris International in 2008. Altria is the largest U.S. cigarette seller.

Philip Morris Int'l CEO: Tobacco not hard to quit

Tobacco hard to quit

The head of cigarette maker Philip Morris International says tobacco is not that hard to quit.

CEO Louis Camilleri's statement was in response to a cancer nurse's comments at its annual shareholder meeting in New York on Wednesday.

The seller of Marlboro and other brands overseas spent most of the gathering sparring with members of anti-tobacco and other groups targeting its marketing and regulatory dealings.

The woman identifying herself as a nurse from the University of California-San Francisco said a patient last week told her that of all the addictions he's beaten, cigarettes were hardest to quit.

Camilleri acknowledged that cigarettes are harmful and addictive but said it is not that hard to quit. He pointed to the fact that there are more former smokers in America than current smokers.

Japan Tobacco Rises After Profit Beats Analyst Estimates

Japan Tobacco Inc

Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914), the world’s third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, rose in Tokyo trading after the company’s full-year profit beat analyst estimates because of higher overseas prices.

Japan Tobacco gained 3.3 percent, the most since May 2, to 326,500 yen at the 3 p.m. close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.7 percent.

The company, which sells cigarette brands including Winston and LD, raised prices in markets including Russia and Turkey last fiscal year. Overseas sales of Japan Tobacco’s eight main brands jumped 2.7 percent, it said yesterday.

Net income rose 4.7 percent to 145 billion yen ($1.8 billion) for the year ended March 31, the Tokyo-based company said yesterday. That was more than the 128 billion yen average of three analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg in the past four weeks. Sales rose 1 percent to 6.19 trillion yen.

Japan’s record 9-magnitude earthquake in March damaged the cigarette maker’s factories, forcing it to suspend all domestic shipments of cigarettes for 12 days through April 10. Japan Tobacco has resumed deliveries of 25 items and plans to add 11 next month.

The company plans to scrap 23 of its 96 cigarette products, including Cherry and Camel Mild Box, by early August, Japan Tobacco said yesterday.

Cigarettes price rise set to leave smokers fuming

Marlboro cigarettes

“On average the price will go up by 20 cents per pack,” said Ralf Leinweber, of the firm British American Tobacco, which makes Pall Mall.

Competitor firms Reemtsma, which makes the JPS brand and Philip Morris, which makes Marlboro, confirmed similar rises.

The price of a pack of 19 cigarettes will rise by about five percent. A pack of Lucky Strike, for instance, will rise from about €4.60 to €4.80. The top-selling Marlboro brand, which is already more expensive at about €4.90, will rise slightly to about €5.

Self-rolled cigarettes are also in the sights of the tax man. A 40-gram pack of loose tobacco will attract 12 to 14 cents in extra tax each year – as more people roll their own to escape the soaring cost of manufactured cigarettes.

One reason for the rise is higher federal government tobacco taxes, which kick in from May 1, lifting the cost of a pack by between four and eight percent. Similar rises will happen every year through 2015.

However the industry is also imposing a general price rise, which it blames on the rising cost of its materials.

“All of our costs are rising, especially raw tobacco, which is becoming more expensive,” BAT’s Leinweber said.

Smokers are a sturdy source of income for the treasury, delivering €13.5 billion alone in tobacco taxes last year. On top of that, they pay sales tax and the tobacco industry pays profit tax.

Various political decisions have been financed by hikes to tobacco taxes. Between 2002 and 2005, the tobacco tax was lifted five times to pay for anti-terrorism measures and elements of health reform measures.

вторник, 3 мая 2011 г.

Hoping LePage vetoes any cigarette tax increase



What a shock. Democrats in Augusta are pushing another $1.50 tax increase on cigarettes. Smokers already pay $3 per pack for taxes for liberal social programs.

Missouri pays a 17-cent per pack tax (how do they pay their bills?) but Maine Democrats want $3.50 tax per pack. Of course, it is as they say "for the children."

Republicans are certainly not perfect, but you can be sure when a Democrat comes near you he is after only one thing: To dig a little deeper into your wallet to pay for someone else's needs.

Let's hope Gov. Paul LePage keeps his word and vetoes any cigarette tax increase on working Maine smokers.

Rockwood schools meet tobacco-free "gold standard"

The Rockwood School District has become the first school district in St. Louis County to reach the "gold standard" of tobacco-free policies that are part of the county health department's federally-financed anti-smoking effort.
To obtain that standard, the district has to abide by 40 policies and practices that generally prohibit smoking on school property, enforce the ban on students, staff and visitors, point out smoking cessation programs and make the policy clear to everyone.
Ken McManus, coordinator of prevention services for the Rockwood School District, said the district met the "gold standard" by placing the wording of its tobacco-free policies in one place. The staff used a checklist from a survey of public school districts the county effort conducted last September as a guideline for consolidating wording and making district policy more clear, he said.
The school board adopted the reworked policy on March 10, he said.
The county and district held an event Monday at Eureka High School to note the "gold standard" designation.

New Owners of Tobacco Shop in Downtown Hartford Say Store will Reopen May 9



After 91 years, The Tobacco Shop in downtown Hartford was about to close this spring.

Shop owner Jim DeLisle said he couldn't afford a rent increase imposed by the building's owner, and potential buyers seemed as scarce as a genuine Cuban cigar. But four former patrons purchased the shop and are moving the business to 89 Pratt St., a 2,000-square-foot retail space that was formerly a shoe store.

The Tobacco Shop will reopen May 9, if not sooner, said one of the new owners, who asked not to be identified. He would not disclose how much he and his three partners paid for the business. The owners are putting the finishing touches on the store this week.

The former shop was on the ground floor of the parking garage behind 777 Main St. The building's anchor tenant, the Bank of America, moved out last month. The Tobacco Shop was one of several stores, including a cutlery store and a hair salon, forced to close or move after the building's owner, Grunberg Management LLC, raised rents. With the Bank of America's departure, Grunberg had said it could not afford to maintain the stores' low-market rents.

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Familiar fixtures and familiar faces will grace the Tobacco Shop's new location, the new owners say.

Todd Bissonette, the former shop's sole employee, has been retained as the store's general manager. And many of the store's antique fixtures, including the walk-in humidor and floor ashtrays, will be in place at the new store. Patrons also will be able to cozy up to one of the new store's ashtrays and enjoy a cigar.

The store hours will be Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Missouri hospitals lose lawsuit against U.S. tobacco companies Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90047071?Missouri%20hospitals%20los



Missouri hospitals lost in a lawsuit against U.S. tobacco firms after a St. Louis jury declared that the cigarette companies are not liable for money spent on people with smoking-related ailments on Friday.


The 40 Missouri hospitals claimed in their 1998 lawsuit that Philip Morris unit of Altria Group, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the Lorillard Tobacco and other tobacco firms that the latter manipulated the nicotine content in their products.

The hospitals sought over $455 million in damages, ranging from $300,000 claimed as reimbursements by some hospitals to $86.4 million sought by the Truman Medical Center in Kansas City.

The amounts were for destitute and non-paying patients whom medical ethics mandate hospital to treat regardless of their ability to pay.

Philip Morris argued that the ordinary cigarettes that the firm manufactured were not negligently designed or defective. However, what led the jury to reject the hospitals’ claims for reimbursement were admissions by hospital witnesses that the medical institutions were not financially damaged by having to treat destitute patients with tobacco-related ailments at no cost.

The jury favored the tobacco firms on a 9-3 vote held on Friday.

The Missouri hospitals’ lawsuit was the third such health care cost-recovery claim to reach trial. The tobacco industry won the first in 1999 in Ohio. The second initially favored a health insurer with a $17.8-million award in 2001 in New York, but the decision was reversed on appeal in 2004.