State of California v. Superior Court

—The State of California and others sued six tobacco companies and others to recover money paid by the State for the treatment of tobacco-related illnesses suffered by its Medi-Cal beneficiaries. In coordinated litigation involving most of the 50 states, the dispute was resolved by a $206 billion settlement, from which California will receive about $25 billion over the next 25 years. The ink on the settlement was barely dry when a group of Medi-Cal beneficiaries filed the lawsuit that is now before us to claim the “excess” money recovered by the State—that is, everything over and above the amounts necessary to reimburse the state and federal governments for the money actually paid to the Medi-Cal beneficiaries’ healthcare providers. We agree with the State that, as a matter of law, the beneficiaries are not entitled to the relief they seek.

Background

The Tobacco Litigation

In 1997, the State of California sued several major tobacco companies and their organizations for injunctive relief and statutory civil penalties for alleged violations of the Cartwright Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 16720 et seq.), the False Claims Act (Gov. Code, § 12651, subd. (a)(7)), and the Unfair…