Supreme Court of Canada won't hear appeal in case involving six tobacco companies in lawsuit over health-related costs; companies include R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, British American Tobacco

Nevin Barich

OTTAWA , December 19, 2013 (Canadian Press) – The Supreme Court of Canada says it won't hear an appeal in a case involving six big foreign tobacco companies trying to get out of a lawsuit over health-related costs.

The Ontario government is seeking to recoup billions of dollars in health-care costs attributed to tobacco-related illness.

The companies argued they were foreign entities and the Ontario courts didn't have jurisdiction to determine claims against them.

British American Tobacco (Investment) Ltd., B.A.T. Industries PLC, British American Tobacco PLC, Carreras Rothmans Ltd., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco International Inc. were turned down by the Ontario Superior Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal.

The province's lawsuit stems from a 2009 law that gave Ontario a statutory right to sue manufacturers over tobacco-related health costs.

As usual, the Supreme Court gave no reasons for refusing to hear the appeal.

(c) 2013 The Canadian Press

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.