Opinion ID: 770626
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Directness of the Injury

Text: 83 This factor addresses the difficulty of ascertaining damages traceable to the Tobacco Companies' conduct. As we noted in discussing the antitrust claims, the Hospitals' injuries are remote and indirect, and there is much uncertainty and speculation about what would have happened to the Hospitals had the Tobacco Companies not conspired. See Laborers Local 17 Health and Benefit Fund, 191 F.3d at 240 (sheerest sort of speculation to determine how these damages might have been lessened had the Funds adopted [special] measures). Reasoning from Steamfitters is directly applicable: 84 if the [Hospitals] are allowed to sue, the court would need to determine the extent to which their increased costs for smoking-related illnesses resulted from the tobacco companies' conspiracy to suppress health and safety information, as opposed to smokers' other health problems, smokers' independent (i.e., separate from the fraud and conspiracy) decisions to smoke, smokers' ignoring of health and safety warnings, etc....[T]his causation chain is much too speculative and attenuated to support a RICO claim. 171 F.3d at 933 (footnote omitted). 85 Like the Court in Steamfitters, we find that the Hospitals' injuries are indirect. Neither the duty to provide medical care, nor the direct or free provision of medical care, affects this conclusion. 10 86