Opinion

Stop the smoking judgment madness

Posted March 05, 2009 10:00 pm

"Madness ... madness ... madness."

While those famous last words in the movie Bridge Over the River Kwai were uttered by work camp doctor Major Clapton (James Donald), they could have been said by anyone reading the item in the Feb. 19 Daily Herald announcing an $8 million award to the widow of a deceased chain-smoker.

The 55-year old died of lung cancer in 1997 after "decades" (Wall Street Journal) of inhaling. The six-person Fort Lauderdale jury ruled Philip Morris USA culpable.

If the smoker had died before it was widely proven that the nicotine from cigarettes can cause cancer, with subsequent warnings, I could understand the jury verdict. And smokers can, and do, quit, tho I'm not as sure it's that easy for us Cub fans.

One way or another the public-at-large pays for such emotional, punitive and excessive judgments. This one, and others likely to follow in Florida where there is an 8,000-lawsuit backlog, is pure madness.

Ray Smith

Wheaton

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