Government Steps in When Tobacco Industry Steps Out essays

Government Steps in When Tobacco Industry Steps Out essays Government steps in when Tobacco Industry steps out Back a few years ago, all we heard on the news was John Doe vs. Big tobacco industries. Every day, people who had been harmed by smoke-related illnesses sued tobacco companies for liability in respect that they would compensate the medical bills. Though some believed these individuals were only interested in the money, others think they had good reason for their claims. Well, some ground-breaking research explained that smoking was infact dangerous and that tobacco companies were trying to hide the evidence. The individuals who filed these claims were far from crazy, but were actually doing to right thing: to make the industry take responsibility for the effects of their products. Half a million people die each year due to smoke-related illnesses such as heart disease and lung cancer. These illnesses exceed $20 billion annually in associated health-care cost. The harsh fact is these illnesses are caused by some of the harmful ingredients in cigarettes. Knowing that tobacco smoke contains over 4,700 chemicals and 50 human carcinogens, it is understandable that smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the U.S. In an issue of Current Health 2, the National Academy of Sciences reports ... that smoking is responsible for 3,000 deaths from lung cancer each year in the United States. In the same article, a study found that passive smoking raised a nonsmokers chance of getting lung cancer by 26 percent. The American Heart Association estimates 40,000 die each year from heart and blood-vessel disease and the risk of heart disease is increased by 30 percent. This research proved that tobacco industries were responsible and s hould be held responsible for the harmful products they manufactured. When faced with this research, the tobacco industries just turn their heads and deny it. In July of 1999, tobacco industri...