RIYADH, 4 December — The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center has filed a local lawsuit against 10 international tobacco firms to seek at least $8-10 billion in compensation for treating lung disease, hospital officials said yesterday.
Ahmad Al-Tuwaijri, the hospital’s lawyer, told a press conference here that the lawsuit was filed at a Riyadh court against the firms and their local agents. He said the hospital also plans to file suits in US and Swiss courts.
“We are fighting a noble battle to eradicate the source of the biggest corruption on earth,” Al-Tuwaijri said. “We will demand that tobacco firms be included on the lists of terrorists and those financing and sponsoring terrorism because of the large number of victims that smoking has claimed the world over.”
The lawsuit, demanding initial damages of $2.9 billion (more than SR10 billion) to compensate for 25 years of treatment of smoking-related illnesses, was submitted to the Grand Shariah Court last Wednesday and the first hearing is expected later this month, the lawyer said.
“The hospital is seeking $10 billion compensation because in the 25 years since it was set up, it had to go out of its way to treat diseases caused by smoking,” Al-Tuwaijri said.
The companies listed by the hospital include Phillip Morris, British American Tobacco (BAT), American Tobacco Co., which is owned by a unit of BAT; Rothmans, Britain’s Imperial Tobacco, Egypt’s Eastern Tobacco and four others.
The hospital said it was filing the lawsuit after negotiations on an out-of-court settlement were postponed indefinitely by the companies earlier this year.
Al-Tuwaijri said the hospital has hired two law firms in the United States and one in Switzerland to present its case there.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s fourth-largest tobacco importer.
