UK Victory for Tobacco Company

It would seem that the British and the Americans are divided by more than a common language. In a recent legal decision, a judge in Scotland held that a man who died of lung cancer after smoking cigarettes for almost 3 decades was not entitled to money from Imperial Tobacco Limited. The only question now is whether Scotland is behind the times, or way ahead.

The facts in the case were uncontested. Alfred McTear, a telephone installer from Ayrshire in the north of Scotland, started smoking in 1964 at the age of 19. The British government required ITL, the maker of John Player brand cigarettes which Mr. McTear favored, to put warning labels on packets of ciggies in 1971. His widow’s argument was that by 1971, he was hopelessly addicted, didn’t know the health consequences back in 1964, and the lung cancer that killed him was the result of an inability to quit.

Lord Nimmo Smith, presiding over the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, was pretty blunt. "The pursuer's case failed on every issue on which I would have needed to find in her favour were I to hold the defenders liable to her in damages." He didn’t dispute the use of ITL’s products by Mr. McTear, nor did he dispute the cause of death. The rest is best left in His Lordship’s own words.

"I am satisfied that advertising had nothing to do with his reasons for starting to smoke. He started smoking because it was socially acceptable and most young people started smoking as part of becoming adults. I am prepared to accept that Mr. McTear found it difficult to wean himself off his habit once he had started smoking and in that sense could be described as addicted. I do not accept that he was, for this reason, unable to stop smoking."

"I am satisfied that at all material times, and in particular by 1964, the general public in the United Kingdom, including smokers and potential smokers, were well aware of the health risks associated with smoking, and in particular of the view that smoking could cause lung cancer. I am also satisfied that Mr. McTear was aware, in common with the general public, well before 1971 of the publicity about the health risks associated with smoking, and in particular the risk of lung cancer.

"Therefore by the time he is shown by acceptable evidence to have started smoking the John Player brand of cigarettes, he was already aware of the publicity about the health risks. As with many other aspects of his life, he chose to ignore it."

Nowhere in the US Constitution is there a citizenship requirement for a member of the US judiciary. With Mr. Rehnquist retiring soon, and others likely to follow, Lord Smith’s common sense would be welcome in Washington.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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