Israel’s largest health insurer (Clalit) filed a class action against major tobacco companies for compensation for costs of treatment provided to patients suffering from harms of smoking. As part of this lawsuit, the court allowed Clalit to file its claims directly against the CEO of Dubek, Israel’s tobacco manufacturer, as one of the defendants. The court therefore decided that a tobacco executive may be personally liable to smoking damages.
Governments or insurance agencies may seek reimbursement from the tobacco companies for health care costs related to tobacco. The most famous example is the case brought by individual states in the U.S.A. that resulted in the Master Settlement Agreement.
An individual or organization may seek civil damages against a tobacco company based on the claim that the use of tobacco products causes disease or death. Some of these cases will relate to general tobacco products, while others will relate to specific subcategories of tobacco products--for example, light or low products, menthol or other flavored products. Additionally, there may be cases relating to exposure to secondhand smoke.
The court might consider procedural matters without touching the merits of the case. These might include: improper joinder, when third parties, such as Health NGOs or government officials, seek to become parties to the suit; lack of standing, where a plaintiff fails to meet the minimum requirements to bring suit; lack of personal jurisdiction, where the court does not have jurisdiction to rule over the defendant; or lack of subject matter jurisdiction, where the court does not have jurisdiction over the issue at suit.
Israel’s largest health insurer (Clalit) filed a class action against major tobacco companies for compensation for costs of treatment provided to patients suffering from harms of smoking. As part of this lawsuit, the court allowed Clalit to file its claims directly against the CEO of Dubek, Israel’s tobacco manufacturer, as one of the defendants. The court therefore decided that a tobacco executive may be personally liable to smoking damages.