Trial lawyers play a vital role in holding corporations accountable for the harm they cause. Nowhere is this role more pressing than in the fight against Big Tobacco. Cigarettes, the only consumer products that kill when used exactly as intended, have claimed over 10 million lives in the U.S. since 1990. They remain the leading cause of cancer, COPD, and countless other life-threatening conditions. In fact, cigarettes are the only legally sold product which, when consumed as intended, will kill half of their long-term users (and impair the health of every long-term user).
Fighting Fire with Justice: A Call to Action
Even though tobacco companies have known for decades that their products were deadly, they haven’t sought to make them safer or to inform the public of their risks. Instead, they conspired to mislead consumers, making cigarettes even more addictive and lethal. In 2006, a federal judge issued a damning 1,600-page opinion, detailing how these corporations “marketed and sold their lethal products with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted.”
Worse still, Big Tobacco intentionally targets children, whom they refer to as “replacement smokers.” Industry documents reveal shocking admissions: “The base of our business is the high school student,” one memo stated. Another acknowledged, “If our Company is to survive and prosper, over the long term we must get our share of the youth market.” The targeting of children is an unethical strategy designed to hook young users. Nicotine uniquely alters adolescent brain development, making young users especially vulnerable to addiction and, consequently, reliable consumers of tobacco products.
Internal tobacco company documents further expose the truth about nicotine’s addictive nature:
- “We are in the business of selling nicotine, an addictive drug…”
- “The cigarette should be conceived not as a product but as the package. The product is nicotine. No one has ever become a cigarette smoker by smoking cigarettes without nicotine.”
- “Very few consumers are aware of the effects of nicotine, i.e., its addictive nature and that nicotine is a poison.”
- “We can’t defend continued smoking as ‘free choice’ if the person was ‘addicted’.”
The Case for More Litigation
In the face of such calculated harm, litigation to stop these companies is not just necessary but essential. Tobacco products have caused a health crisis, and Congress has failed to adequately protect the public from these lethal products. Trial lawyers are uniquely positioned to fill this void, seeking justice for victims and holding corporations accountable for their actions.
There is no shortage of unrepresented clients. Even though smoking rates have declined, cigarettes still kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. At this moment, millions are suffering from emphysema, heart disease, and various cancers caused by these products. If the sale of cigarettes were eliminated (and they should be illegal by any rational measure), the long-term health benefits would be comparable to developing a treatment that cures one in every three cancers nationwide.
Without legal intervention, the tobacco industry would have little incentive to change its practices. Because of this pressure, in 1966 the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring tobacco companies to include health warnings on cigarette packages—a groundbreaking move to inform the public about the dangers of smoking. Furthermore, in 2020, scientific research and continued litigation motivated the FDA to finalize a rule mandating graphic warning labels with vivid images illustrating smoking’s health consequences. This rule represents the most significant update to cigarette warnings in decades.
The Challenge and the Opportunity
Bringing cases against Big Tobacco is not easy. These corporations fight vigorously, appealing nearly every verdict. Each case is protracted and challenging, but they are vulnerable. Schlesinger Law Offices and other firms in Florida have won hundreds of cases against tobacco companies, with combined awards to injured plaintiffs now exceeding $1 billion. Similar cases have also been brought in Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.
If you are interested in joining this fight by taking on a tobacco case, our firm can provide guidance and a roadmap to navigate these complex cases. This is more than just litigation—it is a chance to seek justice for the immense human suffering and societal costs caused by Big Tobacco. Together, we can make a difference.
