NOTE: The Maryland Office of the Attorney General shared the following press release:
Court Rejects Tobacco Companies’ Attempt to Shift Costs of Environmental Lawsuit onto State Public Health Funding
– Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced that the Circuit Court for Baltimore City ruled that tobacco companies cannot reduce the payments they owe Maryland under the 1998 national Master Settlement Agreement to cover any money they may owe Baltimore City in a separate lawsuit. The ruling protects the millions of dollars Maryland receives each year to pay for healthcare for people with smoking-related diseases and for other public health programs. It also allows Baltimore City’s lawsuit against the tobacco companies to move forward…