Mississippi trying to settle its tobacco lawsuit

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore has been meeting with tobacco company representatives in an attempt to settle a lawsuit to recover $940 million in Medicaid funds spent treating tobacco-related illnesses.

"There are some glitches," admitted Moore's press secretary Trey Bobinger. "If the suit is not settled by the end of Thursday, we go to trial."

The trial is set to begin in Pascagoula, Mississippi, next Wednesday.

"I can't imagine they [tobacco companies] would want to take this to trial" while trying to finalize a settlement reached with dozens of attorneys general June 20, Bobinger said. The national settlement requires White House and congressional approval.

Special Section

• Message Board: Tobacco under attack
• Health special: Smoking

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• Lawyers' groups wary of tobacco deal - June 23, 1997
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• Despite tobacco deal, secondhand smoke trial goes on - June 21, 1997
• Tobacco settlement: a long way to go - June 21, 1997
• Tobacco war smoldered for decades - June 20, 1997
• Tobacco industry agrees to be regulated in $360 billion deal - June 20, 1997

Related sites:

• Attorney General's Office of Mississippi
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America

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