“The company’s lawyer also said Evans herself decided to start smoking and continued to smoke even after she suffered a heart attack in 1985 and her doctors repeatedly urged her to quit.”
so, here’s the question…. so 17 yrs later she still smoked and then died… she was even told by her doctors to quit… so why is it that we can still say, tobacco company is responsible? this is ridiculous… how long have the warning labels been on the cigarettes? whose to say that her mom gave her the cigarettes and not the company? back when she was 13, was it legal for her to smoke? she was 53 at the time of her death. this is one of the reasons why they put labels on things because kids don’t read and the reason for having to be 18… question: when did the age requirement to purchase tobacco products come into play along with the warning labels? this won’t be the end of these lawsuits…
1st , Sarah, not knowing the circumstances, I think your comment is out of line on Wudchuck’s family. There are many reasons they could be on medicaid, disability being one. You have a lot of nerve.
Now on to the cigarette topic. This lady chose to smoke, she then chose to continue to smoke. Her death is regrettable, her health choices and contributing factors could have been improved had she CHOSE to quit. Instead she chose to get her family to sue. My parents smoked. my dad was given free cigarettes in WWII, my mom smoked 50+ years before quitting. Cigarettes caused them health problems and hastened their death with complicaitons caused by their CHOICE to smoke. It was their choice, just as it is my choice to say it was their fault. They would never have dreamed of asking their family to file a lawsuit against the cigarette manufacturers. This is bull@@it! Even if they gave out free cigarettes, that does not make this woman a life long smoker and make the company at fault. If someone drank Coke samples and then later drank Coke all their life and developed diabetes and complications, does that make Coke at fault for making a product people chose to use? Take responsibility for yourself and what you choose to do!! You are not always a victim!
As a white person, I’m offended that once again, the blacks played the race card referring to “black children” as the target of the big bad cigarette companies. I suppose if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
Her estate calls her situation a “fatal addiction” and that the tobacco company is guilty of “wrongful death”. Give me a freakin’ break. Yeah…..because she ignored her own health and made a stupid decision that smoking was more important than staying alive.
Where does the court get off with such an outrageous award? Why should the “estate” become unjustly enriched and not have to pay a dime in tax? And the attorneys pick up a cool $32,400,000 all their hard work. This is a pathetic charade.
Thanks for reviving an old memory TxLady. Even as late as the Viet Nam war we used to get 4 free cigarettes in our “C” rations. I always gave mine to my buddy, hope he doesn’t sue me.
For most of the awards highlighted in this forum, I too see an appalling lack of acceptance for personal responsibility.
However, in the case of the cigarette companies, I strongly feel it’s time to require corporate responsibility and these awards are a step in that direction.
The tobacco companies have pushed their product on children for generations both with giving them away and with their advertising. Remember, almost no one starts smoking after age 18.
For years, they lied about the addictive nature of their product. They fully understood that by getting lots of children addicted, a reasonably large number would then find it impossible to quit, thus insuring profits amounting to billions of dollars.
They systematically bought congresspersons and senators to assure that they would be protected by the law and that they would receive government subsidies amounting to billions of dollars more.
The cigarette companies absolutely deserve these judgements. They acted with, in my opinion, criminal disregard for the public and since our legislators won’t do anything about it, it’s up to the juries.
understand,currently she still has not gotten anything from uncle same and is trying to make it… but when uncle sam says it was going to help but has balked at it’s commitment makes me wonder how can we trus it for further services… .. but how much is too much? this is why we have problems….
Seriously people need to stop looking to blame everyone else! You have a brain, you have free will-use them! Ultimately, if you choose to start a bad habit, the choice is yours and ONLY YOURS to stop it. I’m so sick of people not wanting to take responsibility for their own actions! I guess the families of people who die from clogged arteries are going to start suing Land O’Lakes for providing restaurants with pats of butter that are free to use on those complimentary rolls. Absolutely absurd! All of it!
If you have ever been on a jury for a civil or criminal case, you likely know why and how these rediculous verdicts are reached. I have been in state and federal court. The demographics of the jury, economic status, education level, and yes, maybe race, seemed to be the determinants of the outcome, in both of the cases I heard. 25-33% of the jurors dont have a “clue” about the evidence presented. They want to award those they perceive as disadvantaged, both economically and socially.
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“The company’s lawyer also said Evans herself decided to start smoking and continued to smoke even after she suffered a heart attack in 1985 and her doctors repeatedly urged her to quit.”
so, here’s the question…. so 17 yrs later she still smoked and then died… she was even told by her doctors to quit… so why is it that we can still say, tobacco company is responsible? this is ridiculous… how long have the warning labels been on the cigarettes? whose to say that her mom gave her the cigarettes and not the company? back when she was 13, was it legal for her to smoke? she was 53 at the time of her death. this is one of the reasons why they put labels on things because kids don’t read and the reason for having to be 18… question: when did the age requirement to purchase tobacco products come into play along with the warning labels? this won’t be the end of these lawsuits…
Comrade Wudchuck,
You’re advocating personal responsibility? Isn’t your daughter and grandchild on Medicaid?
He who lives in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Sarah: What are you talking about? What does Medicaid have to do with this particular situation?
1st , Sarah, not knowing the circumstances, I think your comment is out of line on Wudchuck’s family. There are many reasons they could be on medicaid, disability being one. You have a lot of nerve.
Now on to the cigarette topic. This lady chose to smoke, she then chose to continue to smoke. Her death is regrettable, her health choices and contributing factors could have been improved had she CHOSE to quit. Instead she chose to get her family to sue. My parents smoked. my dad was given free cigarettes in WWII, my mom smoked 50+ years before quitting. Cigarettes caused them health problems and hastened their death with complicaitons caused by their CHOICE to smoke. It was their choice, just as it is my choice to say it was their fault. They would never have dreamed of asking their family to file a lawsuit against the cigarette manufacturers. This is bull@@it! Even if they gave out free cigarettes, that does not make this woman a life long smoker and make the company at fault. If someone drank Coke samples and then later drank Coke all their life and developed diabetes and complications, does that make Coke at fault for making a product people chose to use? Take responsibility for yourself and what you choose to do!! You are not always a victim!
As a white person, I’m offended that once again, the blacks played the race card referring to “black children” as the target of the big bad cigarette companies. I suppose if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
Her estate calls her situation a “fatal addiction” and that the tobacco company is guilty of “wrongful death”. Give me a freakin’ break. Yeah…..because she ignored her own health and made a stupid decision that smoking was more important than staying alive.
Where does the court get off with such an outrageous award? Why should the “estate” become unjustly enriched and not have to pay a dime in tax? And the attorneys pick up a cool $32,400,000 all their hard work. This is a pathetic charade.
Thanks for reviving an old memory TxLady. Even as late as the Viet Nam war we used to get 4 free cigarettes in our “C” rations. I always gave mine to my buddy, hope he doesn’t sue me.
For most of the awards highlighted in this forum, I too see an appalling lack of acceptance for personal responsibility.
However, in the case of the cigarette companies, I strongly feel it’s time to require corporate responsibility and these awards are a step in that direction.
The tobacco companies have pushed their product on children for generations both with giving them away and with their advertising. Remember, almost no one starts smoking after age 18.
For years, they lied about the addictive nature of their product. They fully understood that by getting lots of children addicted, a reasonably large number would then find it impossible to quit, thus insuring profits amounting to billions of dollars.
They systematically bought congresspersons and senators to assure that they would be protected by the law and that they would receive government subsidies amounting to billions of dollars more.
The cigarette companies absolutely deserve these judgements. They acted with, in my opinion, criminal disregard for the public and since our legislators won’t do anything about it, it’s up to the juries.
understand,currently she still has not gotten anything from uncle same and is trying to make it… but when uncle sam says it was going to help but has balked at it’s commitment makes me wonder how can we trus it for further services… .. but how much is too much? this is why we have problems….
Seriously people need to stop looking to blame everyone else! You have a brain, you have free will-use them! Ultimately, if you choose to start a bad habit, the choice is yours and ONLY YOURS to stop it. I’m so sick of people not wanting to take responsibility for their own actions! I guess the families of people who die from clogged arteries are going to start suing Land O’Lakes for providing restaurants with pats of butter that are free to use on those complimentary rolls. Absolutely absurd! All of it!
If you have ever been on a jury for a civil or criminal case, you likely know why and how these rediculous verdicts are reached. I have been in state and federal court. The demographics of the jury, economic status, education level, and yes, maybe race, seemed to be the determinants of the outcome, in both of the cases I heard. 25-33% of the jurors dont have a “clue” about the evidence presented. They want to award those they perceive as disadvantaged, both economically and socially.