COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Plaintiff,
v.
PHILIP MORRIS INC., R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, BROWN & WILLIAMSON TOBACCO
CORPORATION, B.A.T. INDUSTRIES P.L.C., LORILLARD TOBACCO COMPANY, LIGGETT GROUP, INC., NEW
ENGLAND WHOLESALE TOBACCO CO., INC. ALBERT H. NOTINI & SONS, INC., THE COUNCIL FOR
TOBACCO RESEARCH - U.S.A., INC., and THE TOBACCO INSTITUTE, INC.,
Defendants.
Civil Action Number 95-7378
December 19, 1995
COMPLAINT
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by Attorney General Scott
Harshbarger, for its Complaint alleges as follows:
[ . . . ]
6. The Attorney General, Scott Harshbarger, brings this action on
behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its Division of Medical Assistance
(collectively, the "Commonwealth") pursuant to his authority under, inter alia,
Massachusetts common law, G.L c. 12, §§ 3, 5 and 10, G.L. c. 118E, §§ 22 and St. 1994,
c. 60, §§ 276. The Attorney General brings this action to obtain
declaratory and equitable relief, damages and restitution. The Attorney
General seeks to recover the smoking-related costs to the Commonwealth, including, but not
limited to, increased expenditures for:
a. Medical assistance provided under Massachusetts' Medicaid program
pursuant to G.L. c. 118E. Under the medical assistance program, the Commonwealth pays for
medical services provided to program recipients. The Commonwealth pays a substantial share
of these costs, with the federal government bearing the remaining costs. In
fulfilling its statutory duties, the Commonwealth has expended and will expend substantial
sums of money due to the increased costs of providing health care services for
smoking-related diseases.
b. Medical assistance provided under the CommonHealth Program
pursuant to G.L. c. 118E, §§ 16, 16A. Under this program, the Commonwealth pays for
medical services for disabled adults and children who are not eligible for Medicaid. In
fulfilling its statutory duties, the Commonwealth has expended and will expend substantial
sums of money due to the increased costs of providing health care services for
smoking-related diseases.
[ . . . ]
207. Defendants assumed and owe a duty to pay for the harm caused by
their wrongful conduct, yet have repeatedly refused to do so. Instead, defendants have
engaged in a conspiracy of suppression, concealment, and deceit in order to deny
responsibility and avoid paying for the consequences of the harm they have caused the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its citizens.
208. Plaintiff has been and is required by statute and contractual
obligations to expend substantial sums of money to pay for the harm caused
by the wrongful conduct of defendants. Plaintiff intends to charge and
recoup from defendants these sums of money Plaintiff's expenditures are
immediately necessary to protect the public health and safety.
209. As a result of defendants' wrongful activities, plaintiff has
borne a duty that, in law, equity and fairness, ought to have been borne by defendants.
210. As a direct and proximate result of defendants' conduct, the
Commonwealth has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial injuries and damages for
which the Commonwealth is entitled to recovery.
[ . . . ]
213. Without justification, defendants have refused and failed to pay
for the consequences of their unlawful conduct. The Commonwealth's
expenditure of substantial sums to pay for the costs of medical care for indigent smokers
has unjustly enriched the defendants.
214. As a result, plaintiff has been required to pay for
the medical costs resulting from defendants' unlawful conduct. Plaintiff has
borne a duty that, in law, equity and fairness, ought to have been borne by defendants.
215. In equity and good conscience, it would be unjust for defendants
to enrich themselves at the expense of plaintiff.
216. As a direct and proximate result of defendants' conduct, the
Commonwealth has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial injuries and damages for
which the Commonwealth is entitled to recovery.
[ . . . ]
RELIEF REQUESTED
WHEREFORE, the Commonwealth requests that this Honorable Court issue
an order and judgment against the defendants, jointly and severally, as follows:
[ . . . ]
E. Ordering defendants to pay restitution;
F. Awarding damages and compensation to the
Commonwealth for past and future damages, including but not limited to health care
expenditures, caused by the defendants' actions in violation of the laws
of the Commonwealth, together with interests and costs;
G. Awarding the Commonwealth reasonable attorney's
fees and costs pursuant to St. 1994, c. 60, §§ 276;
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Plaintiff,
v.
PHILIP MORRIS INC., et. al,
Defendants.
Case No. 96-10014 (GAO)
January 2, 1996
[ . . . ]
(b) Plaintiff seeks in this action to recover from
defendants payments made pursuant to the federal Medicaid program. ...
in obtaining reimbursement for those Medicaid payments originally made by the United
States via the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Case No. 96-10014 (GAO)
February 1, 1996
MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS' MOTION
TO REMAND
INTRODUCTION
This is an action brought exclusively under Massachusetts state law to
recover health-care expenses and other costs incurred by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
as a result of the wrongful conduct of the defendants. The Commonwealth seeks monetary
damages, as well as injunctive relief against certain defendants to require, inter alia,
the disclosure of their long-suppressed research on smoking, health and addiction. ...
Civil Action No. 96-10014-GAO
May 20, 1996
The Complaint
Massachusetts' action is brought against six cigarette manufacturers,
two trade associations in the tobacco industry, and two Massachusetts wholesalers of
tobacco products. The complaint alleges that "[e]ach year, the
Commonwealth must spend millions of dollars to purchase or provide medical and related
services for Massachusetts citizens suffering from diseases caused by cigarette
smoking." ... The "smoking-related costs to the
Commonwealth" are said to include, but not be limited to,
"[m]edical assistance provided under Massachusetts' Medicaid
program pursuant to [Mass. Gen. L. ch.] 118E'' and "[m]edical assistance provided
under the CommonHealth Program pursuant to [Mass. Gen. L.
ch.] 118E, §§ 16, 16A." Id., § 6, at 3-4. The complaint seeks "both monetary
damages and injunctive relief."
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
MIDDLESEX, ss. SUPERIOR COURT
DEPARTMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT
Civil Action No. 95-7378-J
SUR-REPLY MEMORANDUM OF COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS IN FURTHER
OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS
[ . . . ]
As the Supreme Judicial Court has held, reimbursement
is simply "repaying or making good the amount paid out." Oliveira,
414 Mass. at 73 (quoting Boston v. Commonwealth, 322 Mass. 177, 179 (1947)). The
essential nature of the remedy afforded under Sections 276 and 22 is determined not by the
Legislature's failure to invoke the word "reimbursement," but by its express
provision of an independent right of action to require liable third parties to repay or
make good the amount of Medicaid expenditures paid out as a result of their unlawful
conduct. Nevertheless, the "magic" word appears in the federal Medicaid statute,
which obligates the Commonwealth to "seek reimbursement" for
Medicaid expenditures from liable third parties.