Washington - The US government filed a civil suit against major tobacco companies to recoup billions of dollars in health care costs paid by taxpayers, Attorney General Ms Janet Reno announced yesterday.
The lawsuit alleges that the companies have waged "an intentional, co-ordinated campaign of fraud and deceit" for the past 45 years, she told reporters. "It has been a campaign designed to preserve their enormous profits whatever the cost - in human lives, human suffering, and in medical resources."