Court says smoking risks known by late 1950s

The Danish Supreme Court ruled yesterday that two tobacco companies were not responsible for the health problems suffered by a long-time smoker, according to a Deutsche Presse-Agentur story.
Allan Lykke Jensen, 67, who had smoked for almost 50 years until he stopped in 2005, had sought damages of 53,000 kroner (US$8,900 dollars) for health issues that included heart problems.
In arguments before two lower courts, which both ruled against him, Jensen had said the cigarette brand he smoked had been manipulated to enhance smokers’ addictions because they delivered higher levels of tar and nicotine than were stated on the packs.
But the court found that the cigarettes were not defective.
It said that the risks of smoking had been ‘generally known’ at the time Jensen started to smoke and that it was common knowledge that it was hard to quit smoking.
The court rejected Jensen’s compensation claim against House of Prince, now owned by British American Tobacco, and Skandinavisk Holding II, just as an appeals court did in 2011.
Jensen and his attorney said they were not surprised over the outcome, which ended a 14-year legal battle.