April 19, 2006

After RJR and Lorillard set aside $756 million in disputed tobacco settlement claims on Monday (as Michael Krauss noted yesterday), the long negotiations between the industry and state attorneys general to resolve the payment issue 'fizzled', according to Nancy Zuckerbrod of the Associated Press. Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal is not happy: "We're continuing to review our options, but certainly a lawsuit looks likely this week." It looks like another round of tobbaco lawsuits are headed our way (I wonder if Blumenthal et al. will farm out their work to private firms, as the Rhode Island AG did in the lead paint suit), even without Philip Morris's participation in witholding.