Inform Me: MASTER SETTLEMENT

In 1995, six state attorneys general filed suit against the four major tobacco companies. Most wanted to recover Medicaid funds that for decades were spent on medical care for ill and dying smokers. Attorney General Gale Norton of Colorado, constrained by state law, argued for remuneration based on charges that the tobacco companies were engaged in unlawful racketeering.

Billions Paid Out
Over the next four years the states’ lawsuits snowballed and by 1998 the attorneys general of 46 states signed what is known as the Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco companies in the United States. According to the agreement, the tobacco industry is projected to pay the settling states in excess of $200 billion over the next 25 years. (Four states - Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Mississippi - settled their tobacco cases separately from the MSA states.) You can learn more about the MSA here. (note: this link will open a new window)

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