Japan Tobacco Sued (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

This is from two weeks ago.

Robert Weissman
Essential Information			|   Internet:	rob@essential.org

               By Mari Yamaguchi
                  Associated Press Writer
                  Friday, May 15, 1998; 12:41 p.m. EDT

                  TOKYO (AP) -- Seven people sued the Japanese government
and the
                  nation's largest tobacco maker Friday, blaming their
cancer and lung
                  disease on cigarettes. 

                  The suit, against former state monopoly Japan Tobacco,
is the first by
                  cancer patients demanding JT take responsibility for
tobacco-related
                  disease, said the plaintiffs' lawyer, Yoshio Isayama. 

                  The plaintiffs include three lung cancer patients,
another with throat
                  cancer, and three with emphysema, Isayama said. Some of
them had
                  undergone surgery, and have trouble breathing without
oxygen tanks. 

                  They are demanding 10 million yen ($74,600) each in
compensation. 

                  The lawsuit is the latest in a handful of cases over the
past several years in
                  Japan for tobacco-free workplaces, non-smoking areas in
restaurants and
                  damages for cigarette-related health problems. 

                  Japan Tobacco could not be reached Friday evening. But
national
                  broadcaster NHK quoted company officials as saying that
the lawsuit was
                  regrettable and that there is no reason to pay
compensation. 

                  In the suit, the plaintiffs also demanded that JT, the
nation's only tobacco
                  maker, stop selling its products through vending
machines and end ads in
                  magazines, newspapers and on broadcasts, Isayama said. 

                  ``Today, it is internationally known that tobacco causes
health problems,''
                  he said. ``The Japanese government and JT have
intentionally kept
                  Japanese smokers uninformed in order to promote their
sales, while they
                  have known the potential hazards all along.''

                  JT controls about 80 percent of Japan's $35 billion
tobacco business. 

                  Cigarette producers face few limits in advertising in
Japan. Cigarette pack
                  warning labels do not mention diseases linked to
tobacco. 

                  Japan Tobacco has won three similar lawsuits over the
past decade. 

                               © Copyright 1998 The Associated Press