Chapter 18: Melancholy Rose Summary

At the end of the 1980s, although sales were dropping, no tobacco manufacturer had been successfully sued in court...yet. Tort law stated that all potentially dangerous products could be scrutinized by comparing risk to benefit. The congressionally mandated warning labels did give some protection against litigation, but since then - had tobacco companies misled the public by suppressing or attacking negative health information? Some thought this action would make them fair game for legal damages.

A lawyer named Marc Edell, who had expertise in asbestos litigation, saw an opportunity to go after the tobacco industry, given recent New Jersey strict liability litigation. His client was a woman named Rose Cipollone, who was dying of lung cancer, having been a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoker for forty years. As an ex-smoker, Marc discussed, at length, the addictive powers of nicotine with his...