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 plaintiff José da Silva Martins brought action against the defendant, Souza Cruz, a tobacco company, which was dismissed by the lower court. The plaintiff appealed to the higher court, but died before the hearing. The plaintiff's successors took over the lawsuit, seeking damages for the health problems allegedly caused by tobacco consumption. The plaintiffs claimed that José Martins had started consuming tobacco products because of allegedly aggressive and misleading advertisements on tobacco. The defendant argued that there was no proven direct connection between José Martins death and the consumption of defendant's products. The Court found in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the defendant, Souza Cruz, to pay damages.