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Legal Action Taken Against Tobacco Companies
Juries across the country have started to hold the cigarette
industry responsible for their actions. In October, 2002, a Los
Angeles jury issued a $28 billion punitive damages award (later
reduced by a judge to $28 million) against Philip Morris (Betty
Bullock v. Philip Morris). In June 2002, a Miami jury held three
cigarette companies liable for $37.5 million in a tobacco lawsuit
involving an ex–smoker who lost his tongue to tobacco–related oral
cancer (Lukacs v. Philip Morris, et al, connected with a
class action suit that is on appeal). Also in June, 2002, a U.S.
District Court in Kansas awarded $15 million in punitive damages
against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, calling the company’s conduct “highly
blameworthy and deserving of significant punishment” (David
Burton v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, now on appeal before the 10th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals). In 2004, a New York jury awarded $20
million in punitive damages to the widow of a long–time smoker who
died of lung cancer at the age of 57 (Gladys Frankson v. Brown and
Williams Tobacco Corp. et al, Supreme Court of New York). The
results in this tobacco lawsuit represent the first time that a New
York jury has held a tobacco company responsible for an individual
smoker’s death.
Tobacco use is one the chief preventable causes of death in the
world. The World Health Organization attributes some 3.5 million
deaths a year to tobacco use, a figure expected to rise to about 10
million deaths a year by 2030; with 7 million of these deaths
occurring in developing countries. Despite this impending danger,
there is also an opportunity to reverse the trends through a
coordinated and concerted global tobacco prevention and control
effort.
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in
the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths each year and
resulting in an annual cost of more than $50 billion in direct
medical costs. Each year, smoking kills more people than AIDS,
alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, and fires -
combined! Nationally, smoking results in more than 5 million years
of potential life lost each year.
Tobacco advertising despite restrictions
The March 8, 2002, issue of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
contains a report entitled, "Point of Purchase Tobacco Environments
and Variation by Store Type - United States, 1999." The report
indicates that despite restrictions on some tobacco advertising,
more than 90 percent of retail stores that sell tobacco products had
some form of tobacco advertising including interior and exterior
advertisements; self-service pack placement; multi-pack discounts;
tobacco vending machines; and tobacco-branded functional objects
such as shopping carts, counter mats.
Convenience, convenience/gas, and liquor stores were most likely to
have "tobacco friendly" environments (i.e., environments within
which patrons would be exposed to high tobacco advertisement,
promotional, and functional object levels.) Prior research indicates
75 percent of teenagers shop at convenience or convenience/gas
stores at least once per week where they are exposed to high levels
of tobacco marketing.
Other People's Smoke
Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS),
is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of tobacco
products (sidestream smoke) and the smoke exhaled by smokers
(mainstream smoke).1,2
Secondhand smoke contains a complex
mixture of more than 4,000 chemicals, more than 50 of which are
cancer-causing agents (carcinogens).1,2
People are exposed
to secondhand smoke in the home, workplace, and in public venues
such as bars, bowling alleys, and restaurants.3
Health Effects
Secondhand smoke is
associated with an increased risk for lung cancer and coronary heart
disease in nonsmoking adults.1,2,4 Secondhand smoke is a known human
carcinogen (cancer-causing agent).2,4
Because their lungs
are not fully developed, young children are particularly susceptible
to secondhand smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with
an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma,
bronchitis, and pneumonia in young children.1,5
Current Estimates
An estimated 3,000
lung cancer deaths and 35,000 coronary heart disease deaths occur
annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of
exposure to secondhand smoke.6
Each year,
secondhand smoke is associated with an estimated 8,000–26,000 new
asthma cases in children.4 Annually an estimated 150,000–300,000 new
cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children aged less than 18
months (7,500–15,000 of which will require hospitalization) are
associated with secondhand smoke exposure in the United States.4
Approximately 60%
of people in the United States have biological evidence of
secondhand smoke exposure.
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