Tobacco chief could be held personally liable for damage to smokers
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《英国医生杂志》
A new court ruling in Israel creates a precedent for tobacco company executives to be held personally liable for damage to their customers?health. The ruling, the first of its kind in the world, was handed down last week by the Jerusalem District Court against Zorah Gehl, former chief executive officer of the Israeli tobacco monopoly Dubek, which he headed from 1970 until the mid-1990s.
Mr Gehl fled to England under threat of a trial for alleged fraud, income tax avoidance and other misdeeds related to his tobacco company. As a result of the ruling he will have to return to Jerusalem from England, where he still lives, to testify at the hearing, unless he wins an appeal to Israel抯 Supreme Court, which is due to be heard in January.
Six years ago Clalit Health Services, Israel抯 largest health insurer, initiated a $2bn (?.1bn; �1.5bn) civil suit against several tobacco manufacturers in Israel and abroad, among them Dubek, British American Tobacco, British American Tobacco UK and Export, Philip Morris, and Brown & Williamson.
The public health fund, which insures 60% of the population, demanded compensation for the cost of treating members who contracted diseases caused by smoking. It blamed the companies for producing dangerous products, using subliminal advertising, intentionally choosing types of tobacco that increase their products?nicotine content, and adding substances to make cigarettes attractive to children.
In 2002 the director general of Clalit, Zev Vurmbrand, started a special process to enable it to use relevant evidence against Mr Gehl to sue foreign entities. Mr Gehl, who is suspected of smuggling Dubek documents out of Israel and hiding them, argued that because he lived in England Israeli courts had no jurisdiction in the case.
Last February district court judge Yosef Shapira ruled in principle against the local and foreign tobacco companies, which had claimed that the health fund could not sue them directly. The district court has now accepted evidence presented on behalf of Clalit by lawyer Amos Hausner, a veteran antitobacco activist, that Mr Gehl was the sole negotiator with tobacco suppliers and was involved in many details even after he permanently left Israel.
Judge Shapira ruled that the evidence was relevant and that strong connections existed between types of tobacco purchased, the cigarette manufacturing process, and the types and amounts of addictive substances added to the leaves—key issues in Clalit抯 suit.
Mr Hausner reported that after the verdict he had many inquiries from lawyers, especially in the United States, who are interested in using the ruling as a precedent to sue tobacco company executives. It is not yet relevant to company owners, who usually do not have direct responsibility, but it is relevant to executives who exclusively control the raw materials. "This case opens a whole new branch in tobacco litigation," Mr Hausner said.(Jerusalem Judy Siegel-Itz)
Mr Gehl fled to England under threat of a trial for alleged fraud, income tax avoidance and other misdeeds related to his tobacco company. As a result of the ruling he will have to return to Jerusalem from England, where he still lives, to testify at the hearing, unless he wins an appeal to Israel抯 Supreme Court, which is due to be heard in January.
Six years ago Clalit Health Services, Israel抯 largest health insurer, initiated a $2bn (?.1bn; �1.5bn) civil suit against several tobacco manufacturers in Israel and abroad, among them Dubek, British American Tobacco, British American Tobacco UK and Export, Philip Morris, and Brown & Williamson.
The public health fund, which insures 60% of the population, demanded compensation for the cost of treating members who contracted diseases caused by smoking. It blamed the companies for producing dangerous products, using subliminal advertising, intentionally choosing types of tobacco that increase their products?nicotine content, and adding substances to make cigarettes attractive to children.
In 2002 the director general of Clalit, Zev Vurmbrand, started a special process to enable it to use relevant evidence against Mr Gehl to sue foreign entities. Mr Gehl, who is suspected of smuggling Dubek documents out of Israel and hiding them, argued that because he lived in England Israeli courts had no jurisdiction in the case.
Last February district court judge Yosef Shapira ruled in principle against the local and foreign tobacco companies, which had claimed that the health fund could not sue them directly. The district court has now accepted evidence presented on behalf of Clalit by lawyer Amos Hausner, a veteran antitobacco activist, that Mr Gehl was the sole negotiator with tobacco suppliers and was involved in many details even after he permanently left Israel.
Judge Shapira ruled that the evidence was relevant and that strong connections existed between types of tobacco purchased, the cigarette manufacturing process, and the types and amounts of addictive substances added to the leaves—key issues in Clalit抯 suit.
Mr Hausner reported that after the verdict he had many inquiries from lawyers, especially in the United States, who are interested in using the ruling as a precedent to sue tobacco company executives. It is not yet relevant to company owners, who usually do not have direct responsibility, but it is relevant to executives who exclusively control the raw materials. "This case opens a whole new branch in tobacco litigation," Mr Hausner said.(Jerusalem Judy Siegel-Itz)