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Smokers and their health carers have suffered from an extraordinary toll of illness andpremature death, but their ability to seek damages is hampered by the English legalsystem. The deep pockets of tobacco companies and massive costs of litigation mean thatonly the most overwhelmingly strong lung cancer cases have been brought so far. At aconference organised jointly by ASH and the British Medical Association featuring two topAmerican lawyers, delegates heard that new cases could include:

• ‘Addiction as injury’ and a failure to warn of the addictive properties of nicotine (like the US Castano cases and its successors)
• Heart disease - recently a successful case in Brazil
• Passive smoking - recently Airline staff settled in Florida (The Broin case)
• Health Authorities and private medical insurers suing for recovery of expenditure on smoking-related disease.
• Criminal proceedings against tobacco company executives
• Developing world claims heard in the UK

ASH believes that British citizens have suffered no less than Americans, but that it ismuch harder for them to seek justice. ASH is calling for four changes to the legal systemthat would open the way for new fronts in the battle to hold tobacco companies legallyaccountable for their wrong doing. These are each features of the US system:

1. Expansion of the no-win, no-fee system to all cases where money is at stake
2. Punitive damages to be awarded to punish wrong-doing by tobacco companies
3. Plaintiffs not to be liable for defendants costs if they lose
4. Trials to be heard before juries instead of judges

Clive Bates, Director of ASH, said "Tobacco companies have done enormous damage tothe health of British people and if they have been negligent or deceitful they should besued and pay heavily. English law tends to deny justice to victims of the the tobaccoindustry - though it may be a long haul to change it, even the longest jouney starts witha single step."