Tobacco has long been one of the most profitable industries in the United States. Every day, an estimated 1.5 billion cigarettes roll off the assembly line in tobacco factories across the nation -- six for every person in the country. Domestic sales exceed $45 billion. Exports of tobacco products add another $7 billion. From farms to factories to retail stores, the U.S. tobacco industry employs more than 650,000 people.

Despite ongoing legal problems that have diminished its public image, the tobacco industry remains robust. Around the world, tobacco companies and government monopolies sell more than 5 trillion cigarettes a year. And analysts estimate that while tobacco companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on litigation, they still have multibillion-dollar net revenues.

$200 billion a drop in the bucket?

U.S. tobacco companies have negotiated with states, businesses and smokers over the past few years to stem the tide of lawsuits filed to recoup the health costs from illnesses related to tobacco use.

Those efforts culminated in a blockbuster $206 billion settlement in 1998 approved by 46 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.

That is the largest-ever settlement of a civil action, but far short of the $370 billion deal almost struck between the tobacco industry and most states in 1997. The 1998 pact also omits a proposal from 1997 that would have allowed the federal government to regulate nicotine as a drug.

Tobacco companies' legal woes may continue despite the 1998 agreement.

Several lawsuits were pending when the deal was approved, with some plaintiffs seeking tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. Also, a number of loopholes may allow other lawsuits to be filed, some experts say.

Yet the tobacco industry is not likely to suffer a mortal blow from the legal actions. In general, companies are passing on settlement costs to smokers in the form of higher cigarette prices. And annual payments will most likely represent only a small fraction of their revenues.

The Associated Press and Time Magazine contributed to this report.