NOVA SCOTIA: The province will recoup approximately $809 million from tobacco companies for the impact of smoking on the healthcare system.
All provinces and territories joined together to sue for the healthcare costs related to tobacco use.
A mediated settlement was approved by the Superior Court of Ontario Thursday, March 6.
In the first year, Nova Scotia is expected to receive about $200 million and expects to receive the rest over the next 15 to 20 years.
“The Government of Nova Scotia pursued this litigation to hold the tobacco industry accountable for the harms it has caused Nova Scotians and for the related healthcare costs,” said Premier Tim Houston.
“Those wrongful practices resulted in extraordinary costs to our healthcare system, and we set out to recover those costs.”
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The resolution pertains to alleged past practices by the tobacco companies from the 1950s to 1980s.
The total value of the court-ordered resolution is $32.5 billion, with the provinces getting $24.7 billion.
Smoking is linked to more than two dozen diseases and conditions. Most lung cancer is caused by smoking, but smoking can also cause cancer in other parts of the body.
Tobacco contains thousands of chemicals with hundreds being toxic and at least 70 known to cause cancer.
About 13.7 per cent of Nova Scotians smoke. There is support available for people who want to quit smoking and using tobacco:
– Tobacco Free Nova Scotia provides counselling, motivational messages and online resources: https://tobaccofree.novascotia.ca
– Nova Scotia Health also has a stop smoking program: https://mha.nshealth.ca/en/stop-smoking-program#access.
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Quotes:
“This is a historic day for healthcare. Nova Scotia’s healthcare system has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to treat smoking-related illnesses, and these illnesses were devastating to Nova Scotians and put a major strain on our healthcare system.”
— Michelle Thompson, Minister of Health and Wellness
Quick Facts:
– the companies involved are JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.
– the mediation process took five years
– B.C. filed the first lawsuit to recover healthcare costs from tobacco companies in 1998
