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Smoking Is (cough) Bad For You (cough)? Since When (cough)?
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An appeals court has thrown out a $2 million judgment against Philip Morris, ruling that the statute of limitations had run out by the time the lawsuit was filed. And the reasoning is something that is an issue in practically all of these cases: when did people know that smoking could kill them? In this case, the court is ruling that the woman who died from smoking-related cancer was aware that it could kill her several years before she died, and that she had, under state law, 4 years to file her lawsuit. So, does that mean that because the Surgeon General's warning came in 1964, that's when smokers should have filed their suits? The danger was common knowledge even before that, but was there anyone after that who didn't understand how dangerous smoking is? (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
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