Opinion ID: 534798
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the relevant facts adduced at trial

Text: 11 Rose Cipollone was born in 1925 and began to smoke in 1942. She smoked Chesterfield brand cigarettes, manufactured by Liggett, until 1955. In her deposition, introduced into evidence at the trial, she stated that she smoked the Chesterfield brand to be glamorous, to imitate the pretty girls and movie stars depicted in Chesterfield advertisements, and because the advertisements stated that Chesterfield cigarettes were mild. Mrs. Cipollone stated that she understood the description of Chesterfield cigarettes as mild to mean that the cigarettes were safe. 12 Mrs. Cipollone also testified that she was an avid reader of a variety of magazines, frequently listened to the radio, and often watched television during the years that she smoked the Chesterfield brand. Although she could not specifically remember which Chesterfield advertisements she saw or heard during those years, Chesterfield advertisements appeared continuously in those media during that period. Several of these advertisements were introduced into evidence. The following copy appeared commonly in Chesterfield magazine advertisements during the year 1952: 13 PLAY SAFE Smoke Chesterfield. 14 NOSE, THROAT, and Accessory Organs not Adversely Affected by Smoking Chesterfields. First such report ever published about any cigarette. A responsible consulting organization has reported the results of a continuing study by a competent medical specialist and his staff on the effects of smoking Chesterfield cigarettes. A group of people from various walks of life was organized to smoke only Chesterfields. For six months this group of men and women smoked their normal amount of Chesterfields--10 to 40 a day. 45% of the group have smoked Chesterfields continually from one to thirty years for an average of 10 years each. At the beginning and at the end of the six-months period each smoker was given a thorough examination, including X-ray pictures, by the medical specialist and his assistants. The examination covered the sinuses as well as the nose, ears and throat. The medical specialist, after a thorough examination of every member of the group, stated: It is my opinion that the ears, nose, throat and accessory organs of all participating subjects examined by me were not adversely affected in the six-month period by smoking the cigarettes provided. 15 5 J.A. 21, 22 (c. 1952). 1 The defendants stipulated that Mrs. Cipollone had seen many of these advertisements. 16 Television advertisements for the Chesterfield brand were also introduced into evidence. The Chesterfield cigarette was described as having ingredients that make Chesterfield the best possible smoke as tested and approved by scientists from leading universities, 5 J.A. 37 (undated), and being manufactured with electronic miracle technology that makes cigarettes ... more better [sic] and safer for you. 5 J.A. 39 (c. 1955). One advertisement stated [n]ow Chesterfield is the first cigarette to present this scientific evidence on the effects of smoking--a medical specialist making regular bi-monthly examinations of a group of people from various walks of life--45% of this group have smoked Chesterfield's for an average of over 10 years--after 8 months, the medical specialist reports that he observed no adverse effects to the nose, throat and sinuses of the group who were smoking Chesterfield. I'd say that means real mildness. 5 J.A. 36 (undated). 17 Mrs. Cipollone testified that she frequently listened to the radio show Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, sponsored by the Chesterfield brand. The Chesterfield brand was marketed on the show as follows (text read by Mr. Godfrey): 18 [Y]ou saw me read this last week but a lot of folks didn't and it's a very important message--especially those of you who smoke Chesterfields--you probably been wonderin' about this. You hear stuff all the time about cigarettes are harmful to you this and that and the other thing.... 19 Here's an ad, you've seen it in the papers--please read it when you get it. If you smoke it will make you feel better, really. 20 Nose, throat and accessory organs not adversely affected by smoking Chesterfield. This is the first such report ever published about any cigarette. A responsible consulting organization has reported the results of a continuing study by a competent medical specialist and his staff on the effects of smoking Chesterfield cigarettes. 21 A group of people from various walks of life was organized to smoke only Chesterfields. For six months this group of men and women smoked their normal amount of Chesterfields--10 to 40 a day. 45% of the group have smoked Chesterfields continually from one to thirty years for an average of 10 years each. 22 At the beginning and at the end of the six months period each smoker was given a thorough examination, including X-Ray pictures, by the medical specialist and his assistants. The examination covered the sinuses as well as the nose, ears and throat. 23 Now--here's the important thing. The medical specialist, after a thorough examination of every member of the group, stated: 'It is my opinion that the ears, nose, throat and accessory organs of all participating subjects examined by me were not adversely affected in the six-months period by smoking the Chesterfield cigarettes provided.'  24 Now that ought to make you feel better if you've had any worries at all about it. I never did. I smoke two or three packs of these things every day. I feel pretty good. I don't know, I never did believe they did you any harm and now, we've got the proof. So--Chesterfields are the cigarette for you to smoke, be they regular size or king-size. 5 J.A. 156 (Sept. 24, 1952). 2 25 In 1955, Mrs. Cipollone stopped smoking Chesterfield cigarettes and began to smoke L & M filter cigarettes, also made by Liggett. In response to a question as to why she switched to the L & M brand, Mrs. Cipollone stated that [w]ell, they were talking about the filter tip, that it was milder and a miracle it would keep the stuff inside a trap, whatever. When asked why she desired the filter tip, she testified that it was the new thing and I figured, well, go along[, and that] it was better [because t]he bad stuff would stay in the filter then. When asked whether concern about the bad stuff was due to a concern about her health, she stated [n]ot really.... It was the trend. Everybody was smoking the filter cigarettes and I changed, too. 26 She also stated that although she could not remember any specific advertisements, she did recall the ads and ... remember the tips [and] the messages of a filter, a safer, something to that effect.... That it would filter the nicotine and the tar and the tobacco[, and t]hat it would be a cleaner and fresher smoke. Mrs. Cipollone also stated that she recall[ed] seeing an ad that said doctors recommend you smoke ... I think it was L & M's.... [T]hrough advertising, I was led to assume that they were safe and they wouldn't harm me.... There was lots of advertising. There was advertising everywhere. There was advertising in magazines, on billboards, in newspapers. 27 Mr. Cipollone also introduced evidence as to how the L & M brand was marketed during the years that Mrs. Cipollone smoked that brand. One series of advertisements that appeared on television and in magazines at the outset of L & M's introduction to the public stated that L & M miracle tip filters were just what the doctor ordered!; the just what the doctor ordered phrase often appeared in a large bold typescript in magazine advertisements. The miracle tip was advertised as remov[ing] the heavy particles, leaving you a Light and Mild smoke. 28 In 1968, Mrs. Cipollone stopped smoking the L & M brand and started smoking the Virginia Slims brand, manufactured by Philip Morris. She stated that she switched because it was very glamorous and very attractive ads and it was a nice looking cigarette. That persuaded me. In the 1970's, Mrs. Cipollone switch to the Parliament brand, also manufactured by Philip Morris. She testified that this brand was advertised as having a recessed filter and that she thought that this made it healthier. In 1974, she changed from the Parliament to the True brand, a cigarette manufactured by Lorillard, Inc. (Lorillard) and advertised as low tar, upon the advice of her doctor, who had told her son to stop smoking. 29 From 1942 until the early 1980's, Mrs. Cipollone smoked between one pack and two packs of cigarettes per day. The only exception to this pattern was that, at the urging of her husband, Mrs. Cipollone substantially reduced her smoking during her first pregnancy in the 1940's. In 1981, Mrs. Cipollone was diagnosed as having lung cancer, but even though her doctors advised her to stop smoking, she was unable to do so. Mrs. Cipollone continued to smoke until June of 1982 when her lung was removed. Even after that, she smoked occasionally, in secret. She testified that she was addicted to cigarette smoking and that it was terribly difficult for her to give it up. She stopped smoking in 1983 after her cancer had spread widely and she had become terminally ill. Mrs. Cipollone died on October 21, 1984. 30 Evidence was also introduced on the subject of Mrs. Cipollone's awareness of the health consequences of smoking cigarettes. Some of that evidence has already been alluded to: she switched to the L & M brand in part because she thought that brand safer than the Chesterfield brand, and she later switched to the Parliament and True brands out of concern for her health. In addition, from the beginning of the Cipollones' marriage in 1947, Mr. Cipollone repeatedly told his wife that she should stop smoking because it was unlady-like and bad for her health. When reports linking smoking with cancer and heart disease began to appear in the media, Mr. Cipollone repeatedly brought them to his wife's attention. Other members of the Cipollone family also told her that cigarette smoking was dangerous to her health and could cause cancer. After January 1, 1966, every package of cigarettes purchased by Mrs. Cipollone bore the Congressionally mandated warning labels. 31 There is also evidence that Mrs. Cipollone feared that her cigarette smoking would damage her health. When she developed a bad cough, her concern about the possible effect of smoking on her health led her, apparently prior to 1966, to make novenas to Saint Judge asking his intercession on her behalf to prevent her from developing cancer. There is also evidence, however, that Mrs. Cipollone disbelieved the reports linking cigarette smoking to cancer and other health problems. As explained above, there is evidence that she read the cigarette companies' advertisements, understood them as representing that the cigarettes were safe, and thus, as she put it, was led to assume that [the cigarettes that I purchased] wouldn't harm me. She stated that she had often read cigarette company or Tobacco Institute statements, reported in articles about the health consequences of smoking or reproduced in advertisements, stating that the link between smoking and disease has not been proven. She also testified that because she found it so difficult to stop smoking, she [m]aybe ... didn't want to believe the reports that she heard that smoking caused cancer or other diseases and that she didn't believe that her smoking would cause her to contract lung cancer. In addition, Mrs. Cipollone stated that she believed that [t]obacco companies wouldn't do anything that was really going to kill you.