Massachusetts' highest court ruled on Thursday that tobacco companies cannot shield themselves from liability in wrongful death suits simply by claiming that smokers knew cigarettes were dangerous. According to Richard Daynard, a Northeastern University law professor, the ruling may have broad implications. "I think it's the first time that any court in the country has squarely held that as a matter of law, except in extraordinary and unlikely cases, this (personal choice) defense cannot be used," he said.
May 19, 2006 at 12:00 AM
1 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.Com
Massachusetts’ highest court on Thursday limited one of the tobacco industry’s most successful defenses in wrongful death lawsuits, ruling the companies cannot shield themselves from liability simply by claiming that smokers acted unreasonably by lighting up when they knew cigarettes were dangerous.
The court’s ruling came in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Philip Morris Inc. by Brenda Haglund, a former Douglas woman whose husband died of lung cancer in May 2000.
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