[Intl-tobacco] Brazil Co. Made To Pay Cancer Bills (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Brazil Co. Made To Pay Cancer Bills
by Stan Lehman / Associated Press Writer
Source: AP, Tuesday, 6/27/00

Tuesday, June 27, 2000; 5:36 p.m. EDT

SAO PAULO, Brazil =96=96 Brazil's largest cigarette manufacturer must pay t=
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medical bills of a terminally ill cancer patient who said he contracted
the disease by smoking the company's cigarettes for 27 years, a judge said
Tuesday.

Pending the outcome of a $2.5 million lawsuit filed by 42-year-old Joao
Lopes Lamenha Lins, the Souza Cruz tobacco company must front $27,500 to
cover the cost of treating Lins' lung cancer, Judge Henrique Gomes de
Barros Teixeira said.

Teixeira issued the ruling last week in Maceio, a city 1,200 miles
northeast of Sao Paulo. The company can appeal his decision, he said.

Souza Cruz, which is owned by British conglomerate BAT Industries, said it
would not comment until it had been officially notified of the ruling.

"Lins presented sufficient evidence linking his cancer to the habit of
smoking, which he was persuaded to do by misleading advertisements showing
smokers as healthy, virile and successful individuals," the judge said.

In May, the government sent Congress a bill to ban cigarette ads from
television, radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards. Tobacco companies
also would be prohibited from sponsoring many events, including an annual
jazz festival and the Formula One and CART auto races.

Brazil, an important tobacco grower that for years ignored the
anti-tobacco movement abroad, has recently stepped up efforts to curb
smoking, banning it in public buildings and on domestic and international
flights.

Some states have filed suits in U.S. courts against American tobacco
companies to recover money spent in treating smoking-related diseases. Rio
de Janeiro and Goias states are seeking at least $5 billion each.