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Compensation For Smoking-Related Injuries: An Alternative To Strict Liability In Tort, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The Surgeon General has described cigarette smoking as the "single most important preventable environmental factor contributing to illness, disability and death in the United States." Each year, smoking-related diseases claim more than 350,000 lives. Smoking-related illnesses also impose a huge economic burden on society. Estimates of health care costs range from $12 billion to $22 billion per year, and productivity losses due to illness and death are even greater.

Arguably, cigarette companies and their customers ought to bear the health costs of smoking. At the present time, however, the tobacco industry has largely escaped responsibility for these costs. Instead, smoking-related …