NHIS Loses 50 Billion Won Lawsuit Against Tobacco Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) lost a lawsuit seeking compensation of over 50 billion KRW from tobacco companies for losses caused by smoking.

On the 20th, the 22nd Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Hong Gichan) ruled against NHIS in its damages claim lawsuit filed against KT&G, Korea Philip Morris, and BAT Korea.

On this day, the court stated, "The plaintiff's expenditure of insurance benefit costs to medical institutions is merely the execution of funds collected or supported under the National Health Insurance Act," and added, "Even if the expenditure of insurance benefits caused a decrease in assets or disadvantages, it is difficult to see that a legal interest was infringed." Furthermore, the court explained, "The plaintiff's expenditure of insurance benefit costs is not due to the defendants' illegal acts but rather due to the insurance relationship arising from health insurance enrollment, making it difficult to recognize a causal relationship between the defendants' actions and the insurance benefit expenditures."

Earlier, in April 2014, NHIS filed a lawsuit demanding a total of 53.3 billion KRW in compensation from tobacco companies, claiming they should bear the additional medical expenses caused by smoking.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.