Are Tobacco Companies Liable For Damages To Smokers' Health? - The Leading Case In Italy (To Be Continued )

Article by Avv. Felix Hofer*

Recently the Italian Corte di Cassazione (last instance court) - 3rd Civil Chamber issued a decision (judgment no. 22884 of October 30th, 2007) in a lawsuit, which is generally considered as the leading case on tobacco companies' liabilities with respect to damages caused to smokers' health. The case can be summarized as follows:

1. Mr. X, an Italian smoker for almost 40 years (at an average of 20 cigarettes per day), stopped smoking on medical indication, but died 3 years later of lung cancer. His heirs, assuming that there hadn't been cancer precedents in the family's medical history, filed a civil law suit against the local State Monopoly's Administration (then competent) for damage compensation, assuming that their relative had been working as a teacher for his whole life in a small town in a rural district, a context that excluded any other factor different from smoking as the cause of his death.

2. The State Monopoly's Administration argued in its defence that at the time there was no legal obligation as to providing warnings or proper information about the health risks linked to smoking and that on the other hand those risks were notorious and therefore perfectly known to the general public.

3. The First Instance Court in Rome dismissed the claim assuming that there wasn't sufficient evidence as to State Monopoly Administration's liability and as to the nexus of causality between smoking and Mr. X's death; therefore the original plaintiffs approached a Court of Appeals affirming that:

- Individuals' health benefited from Constitutional protection (ex Section 32 of the Italian Constitution),

- A general legal obligation as to informing consumers about risks of smoking had to be fulfilled,

- In the specific case sufficient evidence had been provided as to liability.

State Monopoly's Administration was joined in its defence in front of the Court of Appeals by Ente Italiano Tabacchi - ETI (later on Tobacco Conglomerate Y), while plaintiffs were backed by one of the major local consumer protection associations.

4. The Court of Appeals accepted the claim and - based on the opinion of medical experts - stated that Mr. X died because of his smoking habits and found the Tobacco Conglomerate Y (succeeded during the law suit in all relations previously referable to the State Monopoly and ETI) responsible for the event. It awarded the two heirs with damage compensation (established in Euro 150.000 and Euro 50.000...