Smokeless Tobacco Makers Settle Lawsuit

Makers and sellers of smokeless tobacco products have agreed to settle a California lawsuit by posting new health warnings and paying $2.75 million for anti-tobacco education, officials said.

The settlement, approved by a San Diego superior court judge Monday, requires U.S. Tobacco Co. and eight other smokeless tobacco manufacturers to comply with a 1986 California law requiring consumer warnings for products known to cause cancer or birth defects. The suit targeted producers such as U.S. Tobacco, which dominates the market for smokeless tobacco with such products as Skoal and Copenhagen, and Brown & Williamson Tobacco, a unit of British American Tobacco.