By Adam Kramer
Eight Queens hospitals are among a group of New York state hospitals which have filed a $3.4 billion suit in state Supreme Court in Nassau County against six tobacco manufacturers to recover the costs of health care for patients with tobacco-related illnesses.
Some 147 hospitals and the Healthcare Association of New York, which represents 550 health systems, home-care agencies, nursing homes, non-profit and public hospitals, filed the lawsuit against the tobacco companies, a tobacco research firm and a public relations company.
The Queens hospitals which have joined the suit are: Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens, Mary Immaculate Hospital, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Astoria General Hospital, St. John
