Tobacco Documents Online

~~~~a ~or 11 .0122 i ~~'c ~~ ~ He says it is common knowledge that " smoking causes cancer; and he says that the woman "had no knowledge of the ..- lack of fitness for human con- sumption" of cigarettes. So he simply asserts that adl,,crt,smg "makes" peo- ple smoke, and that the addictiveness of tobacco prevcnts them from quit- ting. Of course, millions do quit„and most people never start. But Balli's advertis- ing phobia, although irrational, ex- presses the theme of individital,impo- tence that is familiar in much modern literature and law. Writing in Time magazine;, Frank Trippett reports that a man beingg struck by ligh(ning is suing the National Park Service for negligently failing to warn him not to stand where lightning might strike. The Park Ser vice only won an, appeal against an $94,417 judgment for a man who was bitten by a bear whde camping illegally in. Yellowstone, where ahunda nt pub- t-ii,ity warns about bears. A woman collected 550,000 frcm the city of San Francisco„claiming that a of a world that is,free, if not of risks; than of all individunl responsibility for those taken and lost." And'if you seek the principal cause for inflation, no'.c the many manifestations of the "Pm entitled" spirit in entitlemeut programs, and ottiers,,in the federal budget. Even it you believe, as I do, that th e tobaceo~ industry is one the world would be well rid of„BeGi's suit'should be alarming. If the nation belteves that society would be served by seriously discouraging smoking, there is much that representative institutions can do: 1 But Belli's suit,is another attempt to ' make social policy by litigation rath: r than legislation. And' this particular evasion of democratic due process diminishes society's already attenuated belief in individual responsibility. • 19 79. The Washvig:or. Pnst'Comoarry, , _ fall on a runaway cable car turned her • into a nymphomaniac. A woman whose jaw was broken when she was blown ' against a railing in Chicago's Sears Tower plaza is demanding $250,000 , from the architect whose building, she says, increases wind' velocity, Skiers have tried'to hold'owners of slopes fia• .. ble for norsnal injuries. Trippett wonders, "Must the manufacturer of' a knife clearly label it , as dangerous or else be vulnerable to damages for a kitchen worker'S sliced frnger? Could the designer of a dam tiee blamed if a voluntary swimmer drowned in a lake thus creatcd?" Given the path of t!-ie law, it is reasona- ble to wondor. Might Belii win? Core Is Jrrtzportcilzl!ity ' There is;much cyn.icism andlavari¢e behind the "sue-if-possible" attitude, although not on Belh?s part. He will give his fee lo the American Cancer Society. But the important4irnension is that the attitudes exemplifed in the cases Trippett citcs, and in Belli's case, have political analogues. The "I'm entitled" spirit expresses what Trippett'calts "the utopian dream ~ r SAN,FRANCISCO-A glistening . gold chain meanders across the expan- sion sion of Melvin's Belli's vest, and'crim- son lining lends a dash of flash to his brown suit. From ilarcd trouser legs to silvery hair, the lawyer who has been called "the king of torts" is in fighting trim. He has the girth and' aggressive- ness of the Oakland Raiders front four, and today is he especially merry because he has a ncw case that could devastate an industry, and severall States. Belli, is attorney for several people whose mother,,a smoker, died of lung cancer. The suit charges major cigarette manufactures with liability for selling a product that they knew, or should'have known, causes caneer.. ~r This is unlike the case involving a woman who broke a tooth on a rock that she could not reasonably have been ezpected',to expect in a can of : beans. You buy cigarettes, you get smoke; you buy enough, you should not be startled if you get sick. Or as a judge said to Bellilin an earlier attempt to impose absolute liability on cigarette : manufacturers Elste and Jack Dantcls "Mel„youiget what you buy. When you buy a pack of Luckies, you get snroke. I know you say you can gpt cancer, but I say you get smoke: lf that has a side effect, that's tough luck. If I ler you get by with this, then pretty soon you're going to by suing Elsie„the Borden cuw,, for giving tvo much cholesterol, or Jack Dur:ieis for giving you cirrhosis of! the liver." Belli's argument is at war with itself.

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