Join Others in the Fight Against Big Tobacco
Being diagnosed with cancer is a life-changing moment both for the individual and his or her family. The physical and emotional toll connected with treating this devastating disease is high and is often magnified by financial stress, which is created when income is reduced and medical expenses soar.
If you are facing a health crisis related to tobacco use, you may think that it’s hopeless to file a lawsuit against tobacco manufacturers. This is not the case. With a powerful team of class action lawyers in Chicago on your team, big tobacco can no longer avoid their responsibility for causing injury to people who use their addictive products. Contact us today.
Do I Have a Case?
When most people think of cancer due to smoking, they think of lung cancer. However, it is important to understand that tobacco use causes a number of cancers including head and neck cancers, throat cancers such as pharyngeal or laryngeal cancer, and oral cavity cancers such as tongue cancer. These types of cancer can strike both young and old. Meyers & Flowers urges anyone who has been diagnosed with in the last two years, with head and neck cancer or throat cancer due to tobacco use to get a legal assessment of their case as soon as possible.
Currently, Meyers & Flowers is representing Cook County, Illinois residents who began smoking at least one pack of cigarettes a day in the 50s, 60s or 70s and have been diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, throat cancer, tongue cancer or other head and neck cancers within the past two years.
Tobacco lawsuits are complex so the advice of an experienced trial attorney is the best way to have your potential case evaluated and successfully litigated. Many of the cancer patients we represent began smoking while in their teens and smoked daily for twenty years or more.
Some were able to quit finally, but the damage had been done. None of these older clients were properly informed about the dangers of tobacco or the addictive nature of nicotine.
Smoking & Cancer Commercial
Successfully Winning Against Mega-Corporations
The tobacco lawsuit attorneys at Meyers & Flowers have the resources necessary to actively and aggressively pursue tobacco companies for compensation on behalf of their clients. As one of the nation’s largest and most successful product liability attorney firms, they have obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in awards and settlements for clients victimized by medical devices, defective products, and pharmaceutical products.
Taking on Big Tobacco is just another way that Meyers & Flowers helps individuals obtain fair but complete compensation from companies who value profits over consumer safety. A tobacco lawsuit is involved and difficult to win but with recent decisions against the tobacco companies, plaintiffs have been successful in recovering millions of dollars in lost wages and medical expenses, and punitive damages.
Black Box Warning
The black box warning did not appear on tobacco product packaging until the mid-60s and simply stated that “Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to your Health.” This warning has been increased in severity over the years due to legislative requirements, but this warning came too late for many tobacco-related cancer victims who started smoking in their teens in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
These people were not aware of the health hazards of tobacco, nor of the addictive nature of nicotine and millions smoked every day for more than 20 years. Many of these users have gone on to develop throat cancer, tongue cancer or head and neck cancer and have had to deal with the consequences daily.
The cost of caring for those suffering from tobacco-related illnesses such as cancer has been calculated at over 133 billion just from 2000 through 2012 and does not take into account lost wages, emotional suffering and lost opportunities.
(Source: https://www.cancer.org/research/infographicgallery/tobacco-related-healthcare-costs).
Tobacco Related Lung Cancer
Until recently, decades of lawsuits against the big tobacco manufacturers have been largely unsuccessful. Cases were won, appealed, reinstated and continued their journey through the courts with nothing meaningful achieved until internal tobacco company documents were leaked. These documents finally exposed the truth; the largest cigarette companies conspired together to conceal the addictive and deadly nature of their products.
Finally, in 2000, a plaintiff was awarded $51.5 million dollars in California against Philip Morris opening the door to lawsuits based on what the tobacco companies were trying to hide. For example, when Philip Morris U.S.A. acquired three different brands of cigarettes from another corporation, those brands had a warning on their package that stated: “Smoking is Addictive.” That warning disappeared after the deal was completed. (Source: United_States_of_America).
Currently, there are class action lawsuits as well as thousands of individual lawsuits from plaintiffs who have been diagnosed with lung cancer. Additional cases also are being filed in Illinois for residents suffering from tobacco-related throat cancers, oral cavity cancers, and head and neck cancer.
How to Begin
Tobacco litigation requires an intimate knowledge of the complex legal theories and scientific analyses related to tobacco use and disease. Additionally, this type of lawsuit requires keen focus and the ability to deal with highly aggressive defense attorney tactics. Fortunately for Illinois residents, the formidable team of tobacco attorneys at Meyers & Flowers have the skill, experience and resources to defeat Big Tobacco.
Call today to set up your complimentary consultation with one of our tobacco attorneys. It is the first step in holding tobacco manufacturers responsible for lying to the public for decades before finally being exposed to the light of truth through successful litigation.