Today, the Board of Directors for Legacy(SM) - a national public health foundation devoted to tobacco cessation and prevention - announced it will continue efforts to preserve tobacco funds in Ohio, by taking the battle to the Supreme Court of Ohio.
"We never anticipated being involved in such a protracted legal dispute regarding these funds," said Dr. Benjamin K. Chu, the foundation's Board Chair. "However, when we were asked to join the fight to safeguard these monies for their intended purpose, we considered it a moral imperative and still do. We will ask the Supreme Court to reinstate the trial court's injunction requiring that the funds be spent for tobacco control, thereby honoring the intent of the governing legislation and, in the process, saving countless lives in Ohio through preventing smoking and helping people quit." Legacy's Board is comprised of two state Attorneys General, two state legislators and national public health leaders.
Today's action was sparked by Legacy's deep disappointment in the New Year's Eve decision of the Ohio Court of Appeals of Franklin County, Tenth Appellate District. In that ruling, the appeals court reversed a lower court's order permanently enjoining the State from dissolving the endowment of the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation (OTPF). The decision represents a major step backward in the effort spearheaded by Legacy to safeguard the state's tobacco prevention money for its intended purpose: to save Ohioans' lives. Two Ohioans were also plaintiffs in the case: Robert Miller and David Weinmann, both longtime smokers who relied on services and programs supported by the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation to quit smoking, brought claims on behalf of the intended beneficiaries of OTPF - Ohio smokers.
Today, Legacy and the two individual plaintiffs opposed the State's effort to dissolve the stay pending appeal which had been ordered by the appeals court, thereby enabling it to spend the funds immediately. The plaintiffs informed the court that they will promptly appeal the decision and, given the importance of the case, ask the Supreme Court to hear the appeal on an expedited basis.
Legacy's president and CEO, Cheryl G. Healton, Dr. PH, concurred with Dr. Chu. "We are gravely disturbed by the appeals court decision in this case... Ohio is now dangerously close to joining the growing number of states that have diverted their tobacco settlement monies to purposes for which they were never intended, squandering precious opportunities to, literally, save lives. We at Legacy know that the battle to end the loss of life caused by tobacco is a marathon not a sprint. A recent study found that smoking among Medicaid recipients in Massachusetts fell sharply in response to access to smoking cessation programs. Ohio would be well served both in terms of public health and saving money if they reconsider devoting these funds to the purposes for which they were originally intended - to stop young people from starting to smoke and to help smokers quit and stay quit."
Legacy, a national public health foundation created as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), stepped forward in April 2008 to help safeguard the tobacco settlement dollars Ohio had set aside for tobacco control. After OTPF signed a contract with Legacy to preserve tobacco prevention and cessation efforts in the state, the legislature voted to abolish both OTPF and its endowment. The News Year's Eve decision by the Tenth Appellate District to reverse the permanent injunction represents a step backward for the health of Ohioans.
The 1998 MSA provided more than $200 billion to be paid to the states over 26 years in recognition of the lives and money lost to tobacco. To ensure that a substantial portion of its recovery was spent specifically on tobacco control, Ohio established OTPF and created an endowment for it. Most states have spent only a small fraction, if any, of their MSA funds to mitigate the tragic impact of the tobacco epidemic which claims the lives of more than 400,000 Americans each year.
Research shows that tobacco takes an enormous toll on Ohio - both in lives lost and dollars spent. Ohio's smoking rate is 20.1 percent, just below the national average of 20.6 percent. A report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other leading public health groups in December 2009, "A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 11 Years Later" found that Ohio is ranked a disappointing 45th among U.S. states in the amount it spends on tobacco control efforts. The report found Ohio is spending only 5.1 percent of the recommended minimum by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a state already feeling the brunt of the national recession, smoking costs Ohio more than $4 billion in annual health care costs and another $4.7 billion annually in smoking-related productivity loss (in 2004 dollars). A 2007 report by Legacy found that Ohio's Medicaid system could save $550 million within five years if all Medicaid beneficiaries who smoke, quit. Ohio would reap the third-largest savings of all the states, making the case that despite this economic downturn in Ohio, keeping these funds focused on tobacco control is a wiser long-term investment, ultimately saving Ohioans' lives and money.
Timeline of activity related to the Ohio tobacco funding dispute: