Tobacco Firms Settle MSA Dispute

Tobacco companies will pay Massachusetts hundreds of millions of dollars to settle a dispute about how much the cigarette manufacturers owe the state.

The deal ends a dispute stemming from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in which tobacco companies agreed to pay states billions of dollars each year to offset medical expenses stemming from smoking.

Claiming that some MSA signatories withheld “substantial funds,” the Massachusetts attorney general’s office sent disputes over hundreds of millions of dollars into arbitration.

Monday’s announced deal resolves seven of those past disputes for 2005 through 2011, the office said, and will result in $600 million being paid to the commonwealth this year and “tens of millions” each year going forward.

“The country’s major tobacco manufacturers have pushed smoking products to young people for decades—and this settlement is evidence of our ongoing commitment to hold these companies accountable for their actions that caused irreparable harm to public health and safety,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in a statement.