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Court: Smokers may sue for payment on lung cancer screenings  

Cigarette maker Philip Morris may now be sued by long term smokers who have not yet developed lung cancer, a Massachusetts court ruled Monday.

The Supreme Judicial Court's unanimous ruling gives a go-ahead to a group lawsuit in the state that seeks to force Philip Morris into paying for smokers' medical screening for lung cancer.

The "[court] said that Massachusetts law has an antiquated definition of negligence that must be updated," The Boston Globe reported. "Historically, plaintiffs had to show explicit injury -- such as a broken leg -- before the other party can be ordered to pay for diagnostic tests. Writing for the court, Justice Francis X. Spina said that legal thinking had to change."

In his opinion, Justice Spina explained that diseases caused by exposure to toxic substances are "often latent," the Globe added, "not manifesting themselves for years or even decades after the exposure."

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