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Modern living has exposed people to a variety of toxic substances. Illness and disease from exposure to these substances are often latent, not manifesting themselves for years or even decades after the exposure. Our tort law developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries . . . We must adapt to the growing recognition that exposure to toxic substances and radiation may cause substantial injury which should be compensable even if the full effects are not immediately apparent.MA Supreme Court Justice Francis X. Spina, writing for the court in the Donovan medical monitoring suit.
I found no support for the claim that a display ban is likely to cause a reduction in smoking prevalence. In contrast, tobacco price increases, driven mainly by increases in taxes, had a negative and statistically significant impact on smoking prevalence. Furthermore, other tobacco control measures, like bans on smoking in public areas and health warnings on cigarette packages were effective tobacco control measures, as they had a negative and statistically significant effect on smoking prevalence.Display bans must be tremendously threatening to Philip Morris if its own report establishes taxes, warning labels and smoking bans as effective tobacco control measures. It seems PM would prefer ANYTHING but a display ban.
The country is swamped in legislation that is making life very difficult for compliant retailers like me. The ban on the display of cigarettes is just one example of a piece of over-regulation that has negatively affected my business. As a law-abiding retailer, I have a responsibility to my employees to make sure that I can continue to employ them going forward.Donegal Town shopkeeper Maurice Timony--the local presence Philip Morris partnered with to bring a lawsuit in Ireland--sounding just like a corporate press release.
It's just to protect our ability to show our product in stores. We are not seeking changes to the law prohibiting smoking in public places or that prohibit tobacco advertising.Philip Morris spokesman Peter Nixon, on the Irish lawsuit.
I certainly had no idea about any of this at the time. I take responsibility for publishing the piece, and feel that airing some of the internal fight over it would violate confidences.Then-New Republic editor Andrew Sullivan, on publishing "No Exit," the 1994 Betsey McCaughey item on Clinton's Health Care plan.