Cigarettes and a Winning Lawsuit, Anyone?

Last week a jury ordered Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds to pay $20 million in punitive damages to a dying ex-smoker who picked up the habit after the Surgeon General's warning began appearing on cigarette packs in the late 1960s. Warning or not, the juries have primed the pump and Big Tobacco is going to pay. The tobacco companies are already paying $246 million in an out-of-court settlement to the states for the health costs of smoking--with this ruling, any smoker could feel the legal costs are worth the chance at a day in court with a six-digit number next to their name.

What smoker wouldn't jump--er, hop, with a wheezing cough--at the chance? If this guy started smoking after the government put a label on the package assuring them of the risks, and he has been awarded such a big settlement, doesn't that entitle everyone to a piece of the tobacco companies' vanishing assets? The tobacco settlement with the states did not offer the companies immunity from further lawsuits, and this case will certainly lead to further litigation.

We need to reconsider if we are punishing the tobacco companies fairly for misleading people about the costs of smoking, or if we are seeking payments for costs that were known before the smokers started.

The most recent lawsuit falls under the latter category, and that is a source of concern. The warnings, after all, are right there on the carton--they grace every cigarette billboard and magazine ad. If the company, and the government, can warn you and you are still not responsible, what gives? Are we not responsible for understanding to stop at red lights either?

Americans should think about at what point people have the right to be self-destructive. Alcohol damages the liver and kills many people every year when intoxicated adults get into their automobiles. Will Budweiser be the next victim of the courts? Obesity may represent America's most pressing health issue, but does that mean that fast food restaurants deserve to be the next target for the litigious among us?

I don't think we want to go down this path. Luckily, jury damages like this are always appealed and often drop in monetary value once out of the media limelight and once the victim feels the glow of success. Mere show or a check drawn on the tobacco companies' account, however, this settlement is a worrisome event. It's time to either give the tobacco industry a break or have the FDA regulate it as a drug. Kicking Big Tobacco when it is down is just no fun.

--Benjamin M. Grossman