[Intl-tobacco] Saudi hospital says to sue tobacco firms for $5bln

[Robert Weissman]

Saudi hospital says to sue tobacco firms for $5bln

by
SAUDI ARABIA;BANS
Source: Reuters, Monday, 11/6/00
RIYADH, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A Saudi hospital said on Monday it would sue
international tobacco firms and their local agents for $5 billion to
compensate
for the cost of treating lung disease including cancer, the Saudi Press
Agency
reported.

It quoted Anwar Abdul-Majid Jabarti, executive general manager at King
Faisal
Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, as saying the
hospital had a
legal right to sue the unidentified tobacco firms and their local
agents.

He said the state-run hospital had appointed a lawyer to handle the case
and
urged local and Arab hospitals to follow suit.

"The kingdom spends vast amounts of money on cancer and heart patients,"
the
agency quoted Jabarti as saying.

He accused tobacco firms of "hiding the fact that they add substances
when they
manufacture cigarettes that promote addiction and therefore had harmed
people's
health."

Saudi Arabia is the largest tobacco market in the Gulf Arab region.

Tobacco giants admitted at U.N. hearings on an anti-smoking treaty in
Geneva
last month that cigarettes were deadly and addictive, but defended their
right
to sell and advertise them freely.

After denying health risks associated with smoking for many years,
beleaguered
tobacco companies have been stung into action by lawsuits at home from
injured
smokers, class-action cases and government-backed suits by dozens of
states
seeking to win back taxpayer money spent caring for sick and dying
smokers.

Gulf Arab states have gradually raised customs duties on tobacco to 100
percent
as of 2000 from below 30 percent in the 1980s to curb tobacco
consumption and
boost revenues.

In 1998, the six Gulf Arab states imported 25 billion cigarettes worth
some
$500 million. Saudi Arabia, with a population of some 18 million,
imported 15
billion cigarettes.