U.S. asks judge to reinstate part of tobacco claims
10/13/00
WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge on Friday to reconsider her decision dismissing one count of its lawsuit seeking to recover money spent by the federal government on smoking-related illnesses.
The Justice Department said the dismissal of count one should be limited to the government's claims for payments under Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Act.
But the Justice Department asked the judge to reinstate the claims seeking recovery under the Medical Care Recovery Act for payments made by the Defence Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs and programmes other than Medicare and the employees health benefit law.
The Justice Department also asked U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler to reconsider her ruling dismissing the claims against British-American Tobacco Plc for lack of jurisdiction over the foreign company.
The judge last month dismissed two counts of the lawsuit seeking to recover billions of dollars spent by the federal government on smoking-related illnesses, but ruled that two remaining racketeering counts may go forward.