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Lawyer Who Took on Big Tobacco Dies of COVID-19

He successfully sought billions in legal settlements in the 1990s.

Tobacco Cigarette I Stock 1287152711
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PENSACOLA, Fla. — Florida attorney Fred Levin, who won a major legal battle against the tobacco industry in the 1990s, has died several days after contracting the coronavirus. He was 83.

An attorney at the Levin Papantonio Rafferty legal firm says Levin died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19, the disease that can be caused by the virus.

The Pensacola News Journal says Levin’s career began in 1961 when he joined the law firm founded by his brother.

In the 1990s, Levin was able to get the Florida Legislature to change the state Medicaid law, allowing it to recoup money for the cost of treating lung cancer. That change helped Levin lead an effort to reach a $13 billion settlement with the tobacco industry.

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