Opinion ID: 1094082
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Review of Asbestos-Tobacco Litigation History

Text: ¶ 8. Efforts by asbestos companies to reduce their liability for lung disease, through the courts and legislatures, have been ongoing for over 20 years. See Kan M. Nawaday, Note, Apportioning Asbestos-Tobacco Liability in Falise v. American Tobacco, 88 Cornell L.Rev. 1142, 1145-46 (2003). Certain lung diseases, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, are attributed exclusively to asbestos exposure, and even though there is a consensus that asbestos exposure may also cause lung cancer, doctors generally attribute lung cancer most significantly to smoking. Id. at 1146. Thus, asbestos companies have attempted to reduce their liability for lung cancer suffered by asbestos claimants through (1) apportioning fault to a plaintiff for contributing to his own injury by smoking, [4] (2) bringing separate contribution actions against the tobacco companies for combined injuries to claimants, and most recently (3) bringing direct actions against tobacco companies to recover legal and medical costs incurred due to wrongful conduct of tobacco companies. These suits have found mixed success. Some courts have allowed reductions in damage awards to claimants based on contributory or comparative negligence of the claimant, but most have found against asbestos companies in the separate contribution actions. The contribution actions fail for the same reasons that individuals have not been successful against the tobacco companies: many jurisdictions do not allow separate contribution actions where a defendant was not named in the initial suit; and tobacco companies are not liable under strict liability doctrine, therefore, other theories must be proven. The direct action cases, as discussed below, have failed for lack of proximate cause. ¶ 9. The tobacco companies' settlement with the States in 1997 [5] initiated the most recent wave of cases. The Seventh Circuit calls these me-too cases. International Bhd. of Teamsters, Local 734 Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Philip Morris, Inc., 196 F.3d 818 (7th Cir.1999). [6] The direct action cases have been based on fraud, misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, state and federal antitrust violations, RICO violations, and others. Although there have been some successes at the trial court level, none of these cases has been successful at the appellate level. ¶ 10. Despite the asbestos industry's lack of success, there are public policy arguments supporting the concept that tobacco companies should contribute to the cost of medical care for lung disease. One such argument is that tobacco users should pay for their own health care. If tobacco companies were required to contribute to the health care cost burden, they would pass these costs on to the tobacco consumers, thus effecting this premise. Most commentators urge that this is a legislative responsibility, even though Congress has tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to pass this type of tobacco bill.