ST. PAUL (AP) -- The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit filed against the state by a group of Medicaid recipients over the state' s $6.1 billion tobacco settlement.

The Medicaid recipients contended that they should receive a portion of the settlement. They were trying to apply a state statute that deals with injuries to Medicaid patients. The appeals panel, upholding a lower court' s decision, said the statute didn' t apply in this case. The citizens who filed the appeal said the state' s tobacco settlement stripped them of a right to pursue the tobacco defendants for past and future medical expense. A three-judge panel disagreed, saying these people have essentially the same rights they had prior to the tobacco settlement. " They have a right to bring a claim for damages against the tobacco defendants, but they do not have a right to retain the damages representing the state-paid medical expenses, " Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks wrote in the unanimous opinion.

<< Prev	CIGoutlet.NET News Home	Next >>