Korean Plaintiffs Say Additives About Addiction

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 11/10/2009

A group in South Korea that is suing KT&G has switched its focus to the additives contained in cigarettes, according to a story by Park Si-soo for the Korea Times. The legal battle started in 1999 when a group of lung cancer patients and families filed a damages suit against the former Korean tobacco monopoly. In 2007 the court recognized that smoking could cause lung cancer, but it denied a request for compensation because it could not be ruled out that other factors besides smoking had been the cause. The court found the plaintiffs' allegation that smoking was solely to blame for the lung cancer was groundless. Now, the group is changing its tack by claiming that KT&G uses additives to make cigarettes more addictive and therefore more difficult to quit. Enditem