16 July, 2019

Philip Morris Angers Czechs With Tobacco Toll Report

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-05-mn-30831-story.htmlIn its most provocative calculation, the report said that by dying early, smokers saved the Czech government $30 million in 1999 because of reduced costs for health care, pensions and housing for the elderly. That figure reflected “5.23 years of life lost for the average smoker,” it said.
These “indirect positive effects” of smoking on public finances helped ease the much higher costs of smoking, according to the report, which Philip Morris used in a lobbying effort to influence Czech politicians and officials. In 1999, those costs included $296 million in additional health care for smokers and $29.6 million in additional health care for people sickened by secondhand smoke, the report said.