Do you think cigarette smokers should be able to file a lawsuit against cigarette companies?

Question

There is a link on Yahoo that a judge is allowing "light" cigarette smokers to file a lawsuit now.
They CHOSE to smoke. It is not fair.

Why is there no PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY anymore?

My Dad died of cancer in 1991 - from smoking! He started before he knew it was bad, and did not quit right away when he knew it caused cancer.
I think people who were duped BEFORE they told us it was bad have a right to litigate but not now. Too late...

Answer 1

Personal Responsibility? That must be some evil right-wing policy or something! Next thing you'll want people to be responsible for themselves, their families, their children and their retirement.

Don't you know all that work and responsibility and having to think for myself is a burden on my freedom?

Answer 2

I used to smoke cigarettes before having children and I do not think that people should be able to sue the cigarette companies. I went into smoking cigarettes knowing fully that they were addictive and TOTALLY bad for your body, I don't see how it is feesible to blame them for it. Now, on the highly unlikely probability that some very very old person is dying right now that became addicted to cigarettes back in the day before we (the public) knew how dangerous they were, was dying of lung cancer and god know what else, then maybe one could sue. Maybe... that's what I think!

As for your comment on personal responsibility in general though, it is something that I think America today has lost a sense of. It's so easy to lie, cheat and steal these days that people don't think they should be or need to be held accountable for knowingly doing something wrong. It's a loss of values and it sucks!

Answer 3

The reason why this particular lawsuit is allowed is that there is reasonable evidence that the tobacco companies knowingly and deliberately tried to mislead smokers into believing that "light" cigarettes were less harmful. "Low Tar" and "Light" cigarettes were very popular because smokers believed they could smoke and not get as much harmful ingredients.

I have little sympathy for those people who choose to smoke, but tobacco companies are just as complicit in getting people hooked on their evil weed. I think it's a good idea to have a lawsuit.

Answer 4

We are now living in the 21st century, not the Dark Ages. When cigarettes first became popular, the risks to a persons health were basically unknown, that cannot be said nowadays as the risks are widely publicised. Nobody forces anyone to smoke and if people can't read the warning signs on the side of the packet, or take notice of the medical profession then I have no sympathy for them...and NO they should not be able to sue the manufacturers.

Answer 5

Well, there is personal responsibility. Cigarettes are made for one reason - to smoke. The companies are well aware that smoking cigarettes is at best detrimental to health, and at worst kills people.

I'm not saying that someone who sues a tabacco company is in the right. The smoker should know too.

However, I wonder how people can live with themselves producing things that do so much harm to others. Tabacco companies and their workers should always be prepared to answer for their actions.

Answer 6

Nobody forces you to smoke, light or heavy. I gave up over 7 years ago and believe thats just as i made the choice to give up so other people have the right to continue to smoke. But as for sueing a tobacco company because you have lost your health, i dont think that is right.
Would you expect an injured driver to sue the maker of his motor car? or a person with cirrhosis of the liver to sue the brewer or distiller?
Where does this all end or is that a new question?

Answer 7

I have always had a problem with these lawsuits. Regardless of how "addictive" you may consider cigarettes (and speaking as an ex-smoker), if you want to quit, you can. To sue a company over your personal choice-no one held a gun to your head and made you light that first cigarette (and if they did you should sue the person holding the gun, not the company) should not be allowed.

There is no personal responsibility because it is so much easier, and often more lucrative, to blame someone else for your faults than to accept your shortcomings.

Answer 8

Yes, the smokers themselves chose to smoke but its a contributory negligence. It may be that the Cigarette companies fail to give proper warning or did not inform about the real content in the cigarettes. It has to be decided on the facts and circumstances of each case.

The legal maxim "Volenti non fit injuria" says that any act which is done voluntarily will not attract any liability. But if that volunteering is based on misrepresentation then the other party may be liable for damages.

Answer 9

They might have started smoking when cigarette companies were still hanging onto the rap that maybe cigarettes weren't bad for you (even though they knew it wasn't).

These people have major diseases. They're not that happy. They're probably paying hospitals and doctors thousands of dollars, to boot. The only way I could be mad at them, is if I wish I had smoked, and got cancer, and sued the tobacco companies -- I'd rather not. Plus, it's the tobacco companies they're suing. Nobody likes the tobacco companies.

Answer 10

NO! It doesn't take much brain power to know that breathing in smoke in hazardous to your health. I don't care what the companies put in it addictive or not. The bottom line is breathing "IN" smoke. It is a choice & a stupid one at that. People are all about blaming someone or something else.

It doesn't make sense to say "so & so smoked before they knew it was harmful" B.S. My g'ma smoked & eventually died from it as well. I don't blame the companies.

Personal responsibility is definately down the drain & available for a price.

Answer 11

Can't help thinking of a pretty nice person who smoked back in the 40's when everybody did, and kept on for a lifetime which was shortened by smoking. She died of aspiration pneumonia and it wasn't a nice way to go. She always called those cigarettes "COFFIN NAILS", and knew darn good and well that they would kill her some day.

We DO have free choice.