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• Delaware court nixes tobacco suit 

The state Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by two foreign governments against the tobacco industry.

Panama and the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, seeking to recover expenses for the medical care of sick smokers, appealed last year after a Superior Court judge said they were not seeking damages for personal injuries suffered by smokers and they failed to establish that tobacco products were the proximate cause of their alleged economic injuries. . . .

In a decision handed down Friday, the Supreme Court agreed that the lawsuit should be dismissed, but not for the reasons cited by Cooch. . . .

The real issue, the justices said, is whether the tobacco companies owe a direct duty to insurers or health care providers of smokers, a theory that other courts have rejected.

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