Chain-smoker's widow gets $8M in damages

GR Pete wrote:

<quoted text>
Oh lets see now, the government forced the companies to put the warning on the packs in about the mid 60s. Then for another 30 years or so the companies kept telling the general public that there was no medical proof that smoking caused cancer. Then it was discovered that they have known since the 50s that smoking caused cancer, in other words they lied about it for about 40 years. They not only should have their pants sued off they should be locked up.

SO then what is the excuse for people not stopping smoking now. If you havent know it was bad for you for the last 20 years then you are an idiot. Thousands of people stop smoking every year so you can not tell me it can't be done. It is a choice to smoke. If you chose it then be prepared for the consequences. Otherwise outlaw it and lets move on. Sueing because you refused to take responsibility for your life is rediculous. Moreo f the free hand out, it's not my fault American mentality.

The smokers pay for it not the tobacco companies. Why should she get 8M is that supposed to ease her pain and suffering or something? I don't know the circumstances but she sounds to me like a greedy ****. And to all of you people leaving comments saying its good they should have to pay because they hid the dangers of smoking fist of all they don't pay smokers do. Secondly it is to be expected that an industry would hide secrets that would cause them trillions of dollars. That is why we have gov't agencies like the Federal Trade Commission to make sure that a company's maximization of profits doesn't hurt people. They didn't do their job. We should be mad at our government whose job was to protect us not at industry leaders whose job was to maximize profits, they did their job as expected. Once again they are failing to do their job all the proven carcinogens that are put into junk food today and in 20 years everybody will be mad at the companies instead of the public health officals whose job was to protect us from that sort of thing.

inick2500 wrote:

The smokers pay for it not the tobacco companies. Why should she get 8M is that supposed to ease her pain and suffering or something? I don't know the circumstances but she sounds to me like a greedy ****. And to all of you people leaving comments saying its good they should have to pay because they hid the dangers of smoking fist of all they don't pay smokers do. Secondly it is to be expected that an industry would hide secrets that would cause them trillions of dollars. That is why we have gov't agencies like the Federal Trade Commission to make sure that a company's maximization of profits doesn't hurt people. They didn't do their job. We should be mad at our government whose job was to protect us not at industry leaders whose job was to maximize profits, they did their job as expected. Once again they are failing to do their job all the proven carcinogens that are put into junk food today and in 20 years everybody will be mad at the companies instead of the public health officals whose job was to protect us from that sort of thing.

How about these guys, http://ethisphere.com/whats-ailing-johnson-jo...

GR Pete wrote:

<quoted text>

Oh lets see now, the government forced the companies to put the warning on the packs in about the mid 60s. Then for another 30 years or so the companies kept telling the general public that there was no medical proof that smoking caused cancer. Then it was discovered that they have known since the 50s that smoking caused cancer, in other words they lied about it for about 40 years. They not only should have their pants sued off they should be locked up.

Ok if as you claim the government knew the hazards of smoking an all they did was put a little label may be hazardous to your health on the label. The government was complacent in this because they got tax dollars from the minority of the people to pay for the majority. You people were perfectly happy to take those tax dollars and not say a word. It is you Hippocrates that should get your pants sued off. You use tax dollars from the cigarette tax and the master settlement agreement to lobby against smokers. That is the very definition of taxation without representation.

why should she be rewarded for being that f*&I*k stupid for staying with some one that she knew who was putting her in so called danger.

that is like the people who sue mcdonalds because it made them fat get a clue you know they are full of calories yet you and and your brother kept drinking them that is not 7-11 fault

can i sue the tobbaco company if i loose my job because of the insane prices hahahaha

This is a crock of **** . In that case, I ought to sue Little Debbie for making me fat.

gorditaperobonita_802007 wrote:

This is a crock of ****. In that case, I ought to sue Little Debbie for making me fat.

Take a look at
PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Using Legal Action to Help Fight Obesity

----------
TEN Fat Law Suits Successful So Far [Click Here]
Defendants All Settle and Give Plaintiffs What They Want
http://banzhaf.net/obesitylinks

Sheri wrote:

<quoted text>
Take a look at
PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Using Legal Action to Help Fight Obesity
----------
TEN Fat Law Suits Successful So Far [Click Here]
Defendants All Settle and Give Plaintiffs What They Want
http://banzhaf.net/obesitylinks

This has to be the most illegible site in the history of the web. I ended up having a syncopal episode just trying to read it.

Must be the big orbital bones getting in the way.

phat wrote:

<quoted text>
This has to be the most illegible site in the history of the web. I ended up having a syncopal episode just trying to read it.
Must be the big orbital bones getting in the way.

and this is the guy who is in charge of ASH and leads the anti-smoking cartel. Can you believe it?

Sheri wrote:

<quoted text>
Take a look at
PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Using Legal Action to Help Fight Obesity
----------
TEN Fat Law Suits Successful So Far [Click Here]
Defendants All Settle and Give Plaintiffs What They Want
http://banzhaf.net/obesitylinks

Again, another big pile of ****. This man is really trying to control our freedom by one thing at a time. I sure don't see him targeting drinking. I guess he would miss those cocktail parties, though.

I remember when the advisory was first placed on the cigarette packs...a very vague warning that most of the millions of nic addicts laughed at. the nic addicts I knew were all adults and had been smoking for decades before the first warning. I did not know an adult who did not smoke! All the movie stars and TV stars smoked...shoot, even most of the doctors smoked!! Take a trip over to You-Tube and check out some of the cigarette ads from the 40s through 60s!

I know it's difficult to imagine that there was ever a generation before the one you find yourself in, but just try imagining it...

My grandfather smoked unfiltered Camels--4 packs a day. He started when he was 10 years old. What would a 10 year old want with a pack of cigarettes? "A cigarette can make a little boy forget that he hasn't had anything to eat that day" is what he told me. Who taught him that??

He was no idiot, but he sure was fooled, as were many of his generation. Why would an American company create something that killed Americans??

As soon as he was told by his doctor that his smoking had damaged his lungs, he quit immediately. He still died of lung cancer, and it wasn't a pretty death. Had he lived, and I have no doubt that he would have lived, was it not for the cancer, he would be 100 this year.

curisa wrote:

I remember when the advisory was first placed on the cigarette packs...a very vague warning that most of the millions of nic addicts laughed at. the nic addicts I knew were all adults and had been smoking for decades before the first warning. I did not know an adult who did not smoke! All the movie stars and TV stars smoked...shoot, even most of the doctors smoked!! Take a trip over to You-Tube and check out some of the cigarette ads from the 40s through 60s!
I know it's difficult to imagine that there was ever a generation before the one you find yourself in, but just try imagining it...
My grandfather smoked unfiltered Camels--4 packs a day. He started when he was 10 years old. What would a 10 year old want with a pack of cigarettes? "A cigarette can make a little boy forget that he hasn't had anything to eat that day" is what he told me. Who taught him that??
He was no idiot, but he sure was fooled, as were many of his generation. Why would an American company create something that killed Americans??
As soon as he was told by his doctor that his smoking had damaged his lungs, he quit immediately. He still died of lung cancer, and it wasn't a pretty death. Had he lived, and I have no doubt that he would have lived, was it not for the cancer, he would be 100 this year.

We all have those stories. My father grew up extremely poor, and the only food he ever knew consisted of meat and potatoes. They grew their own food and slaughtered the pigs and cows themselves. As an adult, he continued a diet of meat and potatoes. He preferred it fried. Who would have dreamed that the diet his parents claimed as homegrown, good homecooked food would one day lead to the colon cancer that killed my dad at age 64. Perhaps there should have been a warning on the package, but I doubt that it would have stopped him from eating what he liked. Perhaps there should be a ban on meat, especially the grilled ones which are known to cause not only colon cancer but also lung cancer. I rather think that instead of a ban or trying to force people to live according to the current "good health" dictates, that we should just let people live as they wish. My dad would be 87 right now, but I also think that he preferred living his life on his own terms. I have missed him every day since he passed, but I would not have attempted to tell him what to do. I also know that years ago there were advisories against butter and eggs, two foods that have since been mostly vindicated as the cause of death in America. Coffee too has been on both lists also. Meanwhile, I and many others are just going to go on as we always have with special care to avoid the latest scare and hope that, if nothing else, we die free from the controls of the most bigoted group in American history: the anti-tobacco/obesity/alcohol/p leasure police.

The only person they would have a right to sue, if I actually believed that they would, is ME because I decided to smoke knowing the risks. And since when can you sue because someone decided to do something wasn't healthy? Are you overweight? Because if so, when you die from heart disease, I will sue McDonalds because I no longer will have the pleasure of reading your Topix postings.

youre outa here wrote:

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You sicken the people around you with your second hand smoke. We did not ask to be exposed to your toxins and we do not want to be exposed to your toxins. You may think that your decision to slowly kill yourself does not affect others, but if someone is deprived of your companionship or your ability to provide an income because you died from a toxic, addictive substance, then they DO have a right to sue and there really is nothing that you can do about it, especially after you are dead. you have given up that ability when you decided to kill yourself.

snomad wrote:

Here is Michigan, the right to sue is not of issue. The "Great State Of Michigan" pre-empted any individual from claim by settling.
2001:
Lawyers who represented the state in a lawsuit that led to a $205 billion settlement by the tobacco industry should receive $450 million in fees, an arbitration panel ruled. The award will have to be paid by the tobacco companies, in addition to the $8.7 billion the state is to receive in the next 25 years as part of a nationwide settlement of the suit brought by 46 states. The arbitration panel's decision may not be appealed.
2007:
Michigan ranks 47th in protecting kids from tobacco.
Michigan this year will collect $1.4 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend less than 1 percent of it on tobacco prevention.
"Michigan is one of the most disappointing states when it comes to protecting kids from tobacco and currently spends only a fraction of what the CDC recommends for tobacco prevention," said William V. Corr, Executive Director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Some claims have surfaced that Michigan has reinvested a portion of it's "settlement" back into the tobacco industry. Not to mention the TAX this state receives from every tobacco sale... the sale of a product they deemed evil and were/are being paid.
With all the intentional twists and turns of legal language... it is difficult to know exactly where the money has gone/is going. Michigan touts education as priority, yet counts on it's citizens being ignorant as to it's misdoings.
2009:
?

Can someone sue the State of Michigan then because of personal addiction to tobacco?

GR Pete wrote:

<quoted text>
Oh lets see now, the government forced the companies to put the warning on the packs in about the mid 60s. Then for another 30 years or so the companies kept telling the general public that there was no medical proof that smoking caused cancer. Then it was discovered that they have known since the 50s that smoking caused cancer, in other words they lied about it for about 40 years. They not only should have their pants sued off they should be locked up.

I find it interesting that you support a lawsuit against the tobacco companies that says that the smoker was too stupid to know what they were doing when they smoked and yet you support a marijuana smokers right to choose to smoke. You can't have it both ways. While I agree with your arguments regarding personal right to smoke marijuana it is with the understanding that if you choose to smoke it then you are choosing to accept the consequences. By the same token if you choose to smoke tobacco, you are accepting the consequences of that choice.

Well then I need to cash in also. I am looking for a good attorney to sue the alcohol industry. Why? Well my husbands alcoholism caused the breakup of our marriage, not to mention the physical and emotional abuse he put me through, and my mother's alcoholism has totally crippled her so that she must live in a facility with people to look after her 24/7. I want my piece of the pie too, any attorney interested in the case please respond to this post.

Every smoker out there knows the risks they take every time they light up. I'm only 45 and I knew when I started smoking that they weren't good for you. I know everytime I light up that they are shortening my life. It's time people start taking responsibility for their actions, and they families need to quit looking for ways to become millionaires. $8mil isn't going to bring anyone back.