[' ', 'QUESTIONS', 'AND', 'ANSWERS', 'RE:', 'TOBACCO', 'LITIGATION', 'ia', '1.', 'WHAT', 'ARE', 'THE', 'MAIN', 'ALLEGATIONS', 'OF', 'OUR', 'CASE?', 'The', 'lawsuit', 'alleges', 'that', 'late', 'in', '1953,', 'tobacco', 'company', 'executives', 'met', 'at', 'the', 'Plaza', 'Hotel', 'in', 'New', 'York', 'and', 'concocted', 'a', 'public', 'relations', 'scheme', 'to', 'hide', 'the', 'truth', 'about', 'the', 'hazards', 'of', 'smoking.', 'In', 'January', '1954,', 'the', 'tobacco', 'companies', 'ran', 'advertisements', 'in', 'newspapers', 'throughout', 'the', 'country,', 'including', 'Minneapolis,', 'St.', 'Paul,', 'and', 'Duluth,', 'entitled', '"a', 'frank', 'statement', 'to', 'cigarette', 'smokers."', 'The', 'tobacco', 'industry', 'promised', 'in', 'this', 'advertisement', 'and', 'other', 'public', 'statements', 'that', 'it', 'would', '"promote', 'the', 'progress', 'of', 'independent', 'scientific', 'research', 'in', 'the', 'field', 'of', 'tobacco', 'and', 'health"', 'and', 'cooperate', '“in', 'efforts', 'to', 'learn', 'and', 'to', 'make', 'known', 'all', 'the', 'facts."', 'In', 'spite', 'of', 'these', 'promises,', 'the', 'lawsuit', 'alleges', 'that', 'the', 'industry', 'has', 'continued', 'to', 'deceive', 'the', 'public', 'and', 'conspire', 'to', 'suppress', 'research', 'and', 'block', 'development', 'of', 'a', 'safer', 'product.', 'The', 'lawsuit', 'charges', 'that', 'to', 'this', 'day,', 'despite', 'knowing', 'that', 'tobacco', 'causes', 'cancer', 'and', 'that', 'nicotine', 'is', 'addictive,', 'the', 'tobacco', 'companies', 'continue', 'to', 'mislead', 'the', 'public,', 'withhold', 'what', 'they', 'know', 'and', 'stifle', 'development', 'of', 'safer', 'cigarettes,', 'all', 'while', 'reaping', 'billions', 'of', 'dollars', 'in', 'profits', 'on', 'their', 'deadly', 'products.', '2,', 'WHAT', 'IS', 'THE', 'BASIS', 'FOR', 'THE', 'CASE', 'AGAINST', 'THE', 'TOBACCO', 'INDUSTRY?', 'This', 'landmark', 'case', 'charges', 'that', 'the', 'tobacco', 'companies', 'violated', 'the', 'public', 'trust', 'through', 'conspiracy,', 'fraud', 'and', 'deception.', 'The', 'suit', 'is', 'based', 'on', 'Minnesota’s', 'antitrust', 'and', 'consumer', 'protection', 'laws.', 'It', 'charges', 'that', 'the', 'tobacco', 'industry', 'promoted', 'the', 'distribution', 'and', 'sale', 'of', 'products', 'it', 'knew', 'to', 'be', 'harmful', 'and', 'concealed', 'research', 'proving', 'the', 'addictive', 'qualities', 'of', 'nicotine,', 'while', 'conspiring', 'to', 'keep', 'potentially', 'safer', 'products', 'off', 'the', 'market.', 'As', 'a', 'result,', 'the', 'cost', 'of', 'health', 'care', 'has', 'been', 'inflated,', 'penalizing', 'purchasers', 'such', 'as', 'the', 'State', 'of', 'Minnesota', 'and', 'BCBSM.', '3.', 'WHAT', 'ARE', 'WE', 'SEEKING', 'IN', 'THIS', 'LAWSUIT?', 'Cigarettes', 'kill', 'six', 'thousand', 'Minnesotans', 'every', 'year--and', 'cause', 'thousands', 'more', 'to', 'contract', 'cancer,', 'heart', 'disease,', 'ernphysema,', 'asthma', 'and', 'bronchitis.', 'Cigarettes', 'kill', 'more', 'people', 'than', 'the', 'combined', 'totals', 'from', 'alcohol,', 'homicide,', 'AIDS,', 'cocaine,', 'heroine', 'and', 'motor', 'vehicles.', 'Everyone', 'in', 'Minnesota', 'is', 'paying', 'for', 'this', 'carnage--more', 'than', '$350', 'million', 'every', 'year', 'in', 'health', 'care', 'costs', 'in', 'our', 'State.', '(The', 'precise', 'portion', 'of', 'the', '$350', 'million', 'paid', 'by', 'the', 'State', 'and', 'by', 'BCBSM', 'is', 'not', 'yet', 'determined.)', 'ISEGPOLATOS']