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Litigation

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Many lawsuits have been brought recently against tobacco companies concerning the health effects of smoking. Most of these lawsuits have been brought in the United States in its unique legal environment. Some commentators have called for the filing of similar, "American-style" lawsuits in the courts of countries around the world as a means of creating public policy through the courts, instead of through national parliaments and legislatures.

We believe that product liability lawsuits against tobacco companies such as those litigated in the United States are not the answer to the difficult questions about how tobacco should be regulated, and in fact are counterproductive to finding effective solutions. Moreover, contrary to the impression created in the media, the vast majority of product liability lawsuits against tobacco companies based on smoking cigarettes, including lawsuits brought in the United States, ultimately fail. The prevailing law in most countries does not support such lawsuits. As a result, product liability litigation against tobacco companies is usually a very costly, unproductive exercise that wastes judicial resources which in many countries are needed to resolve many other pressing issues. The better approach to solving legitimate questions concerning tobacco that affect all of society is a cooperative effort between government and industry, not American-style litigation.