Suing Marlboro, McDonalds etc

I have conflicted opinions.  On the one hand, I am a big fan of personal responsibility.   No one is making you smoke or eat cheeseburgers or whatever.  But, I do know that companies like Philip Morris go out of their way to make cigarettes as addictive as possible.  To some extent, it is their fault  that people are still smoking and cannot quit.

I guess I wish we lived in a society where the first instinct was not to sue, but instead to think "that was stupid of me."  Some siutations do call for lawsuits, but not as many as have come up. 

This is where I was going with my comment. Tobacco companies made a product that was very very addictive and they should be held accountable for that.  But, people who started smoking after that was made public knowledge should not be able to gain benefits from the lawsuits.

The research that Philip Morris is currently doing is quite frightening.  They are looking to make a "less harmful" cigarette.  They claim that it is not to get more people to smoke, but to make their current smokers more healthy.  I don't believe them at all. I think their goal is to get more people to smoke because, hey, they'll cause fewer health problems.  Is this right?  Who are they going to market these to?  People who used to smoke...who miss smoking.  Now they can have their vice and it won't cause problems for them.  I just think tobacco companies are evil.

That's not to say I don't think people shouldn't be held accountable.  They absolutely should be.  I shouldn't have started to smoke.  I did, but I also quit.  It was stupid. I can say that I quit and other people should be able to also, but it's not that easy.  I think tobacco should be taxed more than it is and maybe that would help people stop smoking.

I think fast food companies should also make an effort to serve healthy food.  I would eat at fast food (or restaurants in general) more often if I knew that I could go there and not worry about eating my entire daily allowance of fat and cholesterol in one sitting.  Don't they realize that there are a lot of people out there who want to eat healthy? 

Of course, they don't have an obligation to me.  All I was saying is that it would be nice to be able to go out to eat and get healthy food.  When did I say they had an obligation? 

tydarby wrote:

that's different.  That would be selling the car under the false pretense that it is safe to drive.  To make it a better analagy, the car manufacturer would have a big lable on the steering wheel saying that the brakes are bad and the car is dangerous.

I agree it's rediculous that people are sueing over this.  I consider this a "dumb shit" suit.  Just like the hot coffee incident, the guy who chopped his fingers off with a mower using it as a hedge trimmer, the guy who put his ladder (without a "ladder may be unstable on ice) warning lable on ice and fell, ect.....

Maybe if it was the case where he was smoking during a time the tobbacco compaies knew it was hazzardous but they were suppressing the info, then yea I could see that.  Not for 15 million in damages though.  Maybe enough to cover medical expenses and rehab, but that's it.  The amounts people are suing for anymore are just plain stupid.  I think if they put some sort of cap on how much you can sue for for, and made it so that you had to pay your half of the court expenses regardless if you win or lose, a lot of these stupid law suits would quiet down.

Ohhh! Hey!  Excellent idea, thanks.  I'm calling my lawyer right now!

 I was always told something else would make me go blind... and boy was the person who told me that ever wrong... However my eyesight did take quite a dive during my teenage years

LMAO...oh sure, go ahead and brag!  And what about those of us that believed that myth?  Maybe I should sue someone for missing out on all the fun! 

Fun would have been having the means not to have to test the boundries of the myth ...

I thought it was hairy palms?