South Korea's state health insurer sues Philip Morris, BAT for smoking damages

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South Korea's state health insurer sues Philip Morris, BAT for smoking damages

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/south-koreas-state-health-insurer-sues-philip-morris-021348579--sector.html"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kIrk6V_BCXvsNmHOqfA5Jw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9NzU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2014-04-14T021348Z_1_CBREA3D067200_RTROPTP_2_BAT.JPG" width="130" height="86" alt="A man walks past the British American Tobacco offices in London" align="left" title="A man walks past the British American Tobacco offices in London" border="0" /></a>South Korea's state health insurer said on Monday it was seeking an initial 53.7 billion won ($51.9 million) from three tobacco companies, including the local units of Philip Morris and British American Tobacco, to offset treatment costs for diseases linked to smoking. The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said it was suing the two global cigarette makers, as well as local market leader KT&amp;G Corp, in a South Korean court. Only four tobacco lawsuits have ever been heard in South Korea, all by individuals or families, and there is no precedent of a successful action against a tobacco company. &quot;We believe the NHIS, as it takes responsibility for the health of the public and oversees the insurance budget, has a natural duty to bring this tobacco lawsuit,&quot; NHIS lawyer An Sun-young told reporters.</p><br clear="all"/>

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