Title: Eight Canadian provinces are to sue tobacco industry for healthcare costs
Abstract: Eight Canadian provinces are preparing litigation against tobacco firms in what a tobacco company vice president has described in the Canadian Medical Association's journal as possibly “the biggest case in the history of Canadian jurisprudence” ( CMAJ 2005;173:1307).
The provinces' actions follow a ruling in September that British Columbia's suit to recover billions of dollars in tobacco related healthcare costs was constitutional. Seven other provinces already have or are preparing legislation for the same purpose. Cynthia Callard, of Physicians for a Smoke-free Canada, said …