06/25/97 - 03:08 PM ET - Click reload often for latest version
Who's next?
Once the tobacco industry pays billions of dollars to settle under the proposed agreement, government and consumer groups may begin to pressure other industries to defray medical costs that their products helped create.
Makers of liquor may be a target. But no maker of an unhealthy product is safe, not even makers of barbecue grills, says Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute. "It's absolutely clear that charcoal broiling is carcinogenic.''
State attorneys general say tobacco is unique, and other industries shouldn't be worried.
Liquor is addictive to some users, and problem drinking also generates medical bills that states have to subsidize.
But, "alcohol is clearly not tobacco,'' says Elizabeth Board of the Distilled Spirits Council. "Doctors don't tell patients: 'It's fine if you smoke, if you smoke responsibly.' ''
Lawyer James M. Coleman, who represents the National Council of Restaurant Chains, has never even considered the possibility of litigation from someone who, say, eats the same fried food every day for years before a heart attack.
At McDonald's, spokeswoman Malesia Dunn says she "can't even speculate,'' about such a scenario.
But this month in Seattle, a 61-year-old man who describes himself as a milk-a-holic, sued Washington dairy farmers for contributing to his clogged arteries and a minor stroke.
A lawyer for the dairy farmers called the lawsuit "silly.''
"Trying to police everything people eat is ludicrous,'' says Raj Chaudhry, editor of Chain Leader magazine for executives of restaurant companies. "There would be such tremendous backlash against Big Brother.''
But the tobacco deal sets a precedent, and lawyers know that ``precedents do nothing but set into motion more action,'' Horowitz says.
Who's next? "How about all those states advertising to come bask in the sun?'' says Horowitz. "A lot of melanoma comes from undue exposure. Sunshine kills, there's no ifs, ands or buts about it.''
States such as Florida and Hawaii that have been at the forefront to get tobacco companies to pay billions of dollars to cover the medical expenses of lung cancer and other tobacco-caused disease, could wind up fending off suits from rainy states such as Oregon, he says.
"I can't take that seriously,'' says Cynthia Quinn, assistant to Hawaii's attorney general.
Maybe that's a long shot. But tobacco lost despite warning smokers of the hazards. Tourism departments haven't been issuing sunshine warnings.
By Del Jones, USA TODAY
