Class Action Suit Against Tobacco Firms
Featured ArticleMain Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Also Included In: Smoking / Quit Smoking; Respiratory / Asthma; Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 25 Sep 2006 - 9:00 PDT
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A class action suit status was granted against the tobacco industry today by U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein, Brooklyn, USA. Experts say that the bill for the tobacco companies could hit as high as $200 billion. Tobacco companies are being sued because they are alleged to have conned smokers who were concerned about their health by labeling cigarette packets with such words as 'light' or 'lights'.
The trial is set to start on January 22, 2007. A class action means, in this case, any person who bought packets of cigarettes with the label 'light' or 'lights' on them. It could be an enormous number of people - many tens of millions.
As these 'light' health messages started on cigarette packets during the 1970s, who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people will not be able to witness the class action suit because they died prematurely from smoking.
The judge also indicated he is not adverse to including other words used on cigarette packets, such as 'low tar' in the class action suit.
Internal tobacco company documents indicated that the health risks for so-called low tar and/or light cigarettes were virtually the same as for other cigarettes. However, they promoted them as lower-risk alternatives to the public. Even though the industry knew these 'light' cigarettes made it more likely consumers would face serious illness and premature death, when compared to non-smokers, they still went ahead and promoted them.
Most people chose these 'light' or 'lights' labels for health reasons, over 90% of them. They did not chose them because they tasted better.
About five million people die each year worldwide as a result of smoking. How many died over the last century is impossible to know exactly - it must be in the hundreds of millions. Add to this the number who became seriously ill, disabled, lost a limb and one begins to see a tragedy unmatched by any war or epidemic in human history.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
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13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/52647.php>
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Visitor Opinions In Chronological Order (3)
Victim
posted by Sandra Clowser on 12 Feb 2007 at 3:17 amI just read this article and was very upset . I had not heard of the Class Action Suit. I have been smoking Carlton cigarettes for 12 years. Carlton's are supposed to be the lowest in tar and nicotine ( 1mg tar and 1mg of nicotine). I switched because I believed what was written on the package, and that it would make a difference in health issues. Carlton's are even more expensive those most other cigarettes but I was willing to pay the extra because I thought that they were less dangerous. I believed that with the little amount of tar and nicotine in Carlton that I wouldn't need to quit. Since them I have developed COPD and have the lung function of a 116 year old. I am only 51 years old. It's so sad that you can't believe the manufacturers of a product. Is there any way to get involved in the class action suit.
Thank you
Sandra Clowser
My dad smoked for 53 years
posted by larry greene on 28 Aug 2010 at 2:49 pmMy dad smoked for over 53 yrs as it states in my medical records and was addicted at the age of 16 he died Feb 18 2010 at the age of 69 he smoked light at the end thinking it would be better for him. He smoke up to 2 packs a day. he suffered a heart attack and stroke before becoming paralyzed and speechless.My dad was a cowboy and saw commercials with cowboys smoking.i contain over 60 pages that all say he died from tobacco.He started with Camel and Marlboro was the last he smoked.
Larry Greene
I smoked for years
posted by Gilda on 8 Dec 2010 at 12:29 pmI smoked for years and the last ten years before I quit (quit in 2005) I smoked Carlton menthol lights. I smoked these because the company kept sending me coupons for up to $5 off a carton and kept assuring me that they were "light" and would not really harm me. In 2007, I was diagnosed with lung cancer and had a lung removed...I now have a tumor in my remaining lung.
I am willing to take responsibility for this cancer, but the tobacco company kept me "hooked" for many years after I was ready to quit. I started "quitting" in 1996 and quit dozens of time before I became successful at it...meanwhile they were continually sending me coupons through the mail!
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