Husband wasn't warned of possible cancer risks, woman's lawsuit alleges
Jump to full article: Akron (OH) Beacon Journal, 2001-09-26
Author: Julie Wallace
Intro: David Tompkin was just a teen-ager when he joined the ranks of smokers.
The year was 1950. Tompkin, a student at Cuyahoga Falls High School, was 16 . . .
They contend his cancer was due to inhaling asbestos during his 40-year career as a bricklayer. A test performed after his autopsy found evidence of asbestos inhalation in his lungs and no evidence that he'd ever been a smoker, they said.
``Mr. Tompkin didn't smoke very much, didn't smoke very long and quit for good at age 30,'' said Walter Cofer, representing Phillip Morris. ``The issue here is what caused the cancer. Cigarette smoking did not.'' . .
Attorney Russell Smith, representing Tompkin, said he will present medical experts to testify that the two causes -- smoking and asbestos -- feed off each other to enhance the chance of cancer.
In addition to pinpointing the cause of the cancer, Smith's case hinges on the contention that the tobacco companies knew long before Tompkin ever picked up his first cigarette that there was a link between smoking and cancer, yet they failed to warn the public about the dangers.
``If we were going to try to capture this case in a few words . . . this might fit: the concept of profit over people,'' Smith told the four-man, five-woman jury -- one short after a woman fell ill early in the day and was excused. ``Choosing profits over people. Refusing to warn. Killing David Tompkin.''
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