Limitations regarding the use of quotes
The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
The Gourlain family filed suit against the National Society of Tobacco and Matches (SEITA), alleging that its family member started smoking as a child because of lack of information and misleading advertisements regarding the danger and addictive nature of smoking. The family member's smoking caused health problems and ultimately death. The family further claimed that SEITA aired tobacco advertisements despite its knowledge of the existing connection between tobacco consumption and lung cancer and argued that SEITA, as a manufacturer, is responsible for the intrinsic danger of its products. The court held in favor of the family, explaining that the deceased would not have begun smoking had he known about the risks involved. The court however considered that the deceased contributed to his health problems by continuing to smoke once aware of the risk. The court accordingly decreased the damages awarded. The court further held that merely marketing dangerous products does not make a manufacturer responsible for their use and dismissed the products liability claim.