Smokers say that tobacco is one of their favorite food and think it unfair to regulate for them to smoke. But non-smokers argue that tobacco is like a toxic drug and it causes serious harms in terms of public health law. Therefore, around tobacco lawsuit in recent years I will look into the meaning of the tobacco litigation and examine the significance of the tobacco litigation in Korea.
In U.S.A. in the early 1950s, the cigarette was a cultural icon. The first tobacco lawsuit was filed in 1954. The first wave of cases was filed principally under theories of negligence, breach of warranty, and misrepresentation. By the time of the second wave of litigation from 1983 to 1992, cigarette smoking was beginning to become a hallmark not of elegance, but of weak character and lower social class. And the third wave did not begin quietly. The tobacco industry faces litigation from individual smokers in the third wave. The most important effect of tobacco litigation was to transform public and political perceptions about risk and responsibility in smoking, making clear what manufacturers knew, how they concealed this knowledge, and how they manipulated consumers.
In the end I conclude as follows: State should conserve human rights of her people. Constitution makes clear this point. Tobacco litigations have a much impact on public health law. Manufacturers that produced harmful products in public health might be imposed on product liability or strict liability in tort law.ope
