May 7, 1998 - Closing arguments began today in Minnesota's tobacco trial. Settlement talks have collapsed, and the chief executive of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota says chances of a settlement are "extremely slim." He said one problem was tobacco companies' demand that they be protected against lawsuits by Minnesota counties. Hennepin County commissioners are informally debating whether to sue the tobacco industry to recoup county costs for treating sick smokers. Commissioner Randy Johnson says the immunity issue is moot: Hennepin County Commissioner Randy Johnson.
May 7, 1998 - Tobacco company attorneys present their closing arguments this morning in Saint Paul amidst rumors of settlement talks. Minnesota Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Skip Humphrey sounded like he'd prefer to settle Minnesota's tobacco trial but also said he's prepared to let the jury decide. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports: Humphrey spoke before an audience of public health professors at the University of Minnesota giving few clues as to whether he's close to settling the case. Settlement rumors have been flying since Monday when the St Paul Pioneer Press reported parties for the state, blue cross/blue shield and tobacco companies had outlined an agreement. That agreement reportedly called for the industry to pay five-billion-dollars over the next 25 years and submit to marketing restrictions to teenagers.
May 8, 1998 - An MPR special on the tobacco trial and its implications. Contains discussion on tentative tobacco settlement between the State of Minnesota and Blue Cross/Blue Shield with the tobacco industry. Program includes updates and report summary from MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki, Laura McCullum, and Bob Collins. There are also various interviews, including attorney Ron Meshbesher.
May 8, 1998 - Midday presents an MPR special on the tobacco settlement. Program includes report from MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki, followed by speeches and interviews from Skip Humphrey, Minnesota attorney general; Michael Ciresi, state's lead attorney; jurors, and others. A key component to settlement was the banning of tobacco marketing to children.
May 8, 1998 - Minnesota State Attorney General Skip Humphrey met with reporters and supporters this afternoon to outline some of the details of the tobacco settlement. Humphrey emphasized the elements of the agreement that are designed to reduce smoking among young people...... Minnesota Attorney General Skip Humphrey, speaking to reporters and supporters earlier this afternoon. Sun 28-MAY 11:19:21 MPR NewsPro Archive - Wed 04/11/2001
May 8, 1998 - Minnesota has now become the fourth state to settle its tobacco suit. The industry is already paying out a total of thirty (B) billion dollars to settle cases in Mississippi, Florida and Texas. Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore was the first to settle with the industry for 3-point-35 (BILLION) dollars. Florida got 11 (Billion) and Texas got just over fifteen. We asked Attorney General Moore how Minnesota's settlement affects Mississippi's:
May 8, 1998 - When tobacco companies agreed to settle 40 state lawsuits against them last June, it did so with astonishing enthusiasm considering it was going to cost them more than 368-billion dollars. Critics, who are naturally suspicious of anything the Companies find acceptable, had little to use in an argument against the settlement.....until the Minnesota tobacco trial started. When it did, momentum toward a national deal stopped and the settlement collapsed. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Collins looks at how the Minnesota trial has changed the national debate on tobacco.
May 8, 1998 - capitol to follow other stories: Word of a settlement in the case quickly spread from the Federal Courthouse downtown St. Paul...directly UP the HILL to the state capitol. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports on reaction from the Governor and some lawmakers
May 8, 1998 - Stanton Glantz is an anti-tobacco researcher who was thrust into the national spotlight in 1994 when he received an anonymous shipment of four-thousand internal tobacco company documents. Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, used the papers as a basis for a book called "The Cigarette Papers," a landmark work about the tobacco industry's deception of the American people. Glantz sees the Minnesota's case as a continuation of his work. You might say if "The Cigarette Papers" provided a keyhole glimpse of the tobacco industry, then the Minnesota trial knocked down the door. Glantz doesn't see a settlement as a defeat, he sees it as another important step in defanging the tobacco industry:
May 11, 1998 - Michael Ciresi, Minnesota’s lead state attorney for the tobacco trial, discusses the tobacco settlement, in which the tobacco industry will pay the State of Minnesota 6.1 billion dollars, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield 500 million dollars. Topics include banning of tobacco marketing to children, collaboration with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and litigation choices made. Ciresi also answers listener questions.