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SJC says tobacco firms can't blame smokers as defense
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that cigarette makers cannot defend against personal-injury lawsuits by arguing that smokers should know the health risks of cigarettes and thus are responsible for harming themselves. Cigarettes, the court said, are so dangerous that they cannot be used safely by anyone. The ruling, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation by a top state court, said Philip Morris Inc. cannot shield itself from a lawsuit by the widow of a Douglas man who died of lung cancer by arguing that he knew cigarettes were harmful and thus had used the product unreasonably. Tobacco companies have successfully used that defense in wrongful death suits across the country. ''Because no cigarette can be safely used for its ordinary purpose, smoking, there can be no nonunreasonable use of cigarettes," Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall wrote for the court. Although the 7-0 ruling only concerns suits against cigarette makers in Massachusetts, antismoking activists hailed it as a landmark that could bolster litigation elsewhere, if courts in other states agree with the SJC's reasoning. … ''This was a home run for the plaintiff," said Richard Daynard, a professor at Northeastern University School of Law and the head of the Public Health Advocacy Institute.
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