Widespread awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke is a relatively new development. Studies in the late 1980s first unveiled the threat of indirect smoke to the scientific community, but it was not until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency came out with its own report in 1991 that those dangers reached the public consciousness. Fifteen states, including Florida, allow testimony on a parent's smoking habit to be used in child custody battles to demonstrate an unsafe environment. Efforts to limit secondhand smoke at home are still in the developmental stage. The nonsmoker's fight against tobacco has largely been waged in the workplace by employees looking for limited exposure to smokers or for worker's compensation, Banzhaf said.
Lawsuits seeking damages are rare.
The question for Kehle will be whether he can prove that Hartman knew about the dangers she was subjecting him to and whether it led to his disease.