Photo: Mesk Photography/Shutterstock.com

Brazil's Office of the Attorney General filed suit against British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International, as well as their Brazilian subsidiaries, this week claiming the companies need to reimburse the country for health care costs associated with smoking-related diseases.

The suit shows South American countries are becoming more stringent in regulating tobacco companies.

The attorney general's office also claims in the suit, filed in Federal Court of Rio Grande do Sul, that the companies omitted and manipulated information about the harmfulness of cigarettes.

According to Brazil's National Cancer Institute, 90% of cases of lung cancer in the country are due to cigarette addiction. Each year, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 1.1 million Brazilians become sick because of causes attributed to smoking.

David Bressler, a prosecutor in the attorney general's office, said in a statement the multinational companies should be held liable because they have profited from Brazilians' use of cigarettes and their illnesses. The amount of damages the Brazilian government is seeking has not yet been calculated, according to the release. The attorney general's office said the action is not intended to prohibit the activity of cigarette manufacturers and does not impact Brazil's domestic tobacco production.

Filing the suit is further evidence that South American countries are becoming tougher when it comes to regulating tobacco companies. According to a regulatory index published last week by ECigIntelligence, South American countries have some of the most stringent regulations on e-cigarettes and vaping products. Brazil currently has a ban, upheld by the country's high court last year, on flavored tobacco products.

The lawsuit is similar to those filed by several states in the U.S. in the 1990s, which ended in 1998 with the Master Settlement Agreement. The agreement was between 46 states and the largest cigarette manufacturers, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Lorillard Tobacco Co., Philip Morris Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., according to the Public Health Law Center. As of 2018, the companies have paid $162 billion to the participating states.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said provinces in Canada also filed a similar suit. The first cost-recovery lawsuit is slated to trial in November, according to a report in The Globe and Mail.

A spokesperson for Philip Morris did not respond to request for comment Thursday. A spokesperson for British American Tobacco said it is aware an action has been filed but declined to comment on the specifics of the case.

“At this stage, no legal proceedings have been served on any BAT group company and we are therefore unable to comment further at this time,” the spokesperson said in the email.

It was not clear who will be representing Philip Morris or British American Tobacco.

Matthew Myers, the president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D.C., said in a statement the suit is a significant step in holding tobacco companies liable.

“Today's lawsuit marks a crucial step forward in holding tobacco companies responsible for their decades of advertising and marketing practices that hid the dangers of smoking from the public and purposely targeted young people,” Myers said.