Spanish smoker loses his claim for compensation against the State

Spanish smoker loses his claim for compensation against the State
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By h.b. - Oct 6, 2008 - 7:07 AM

Archive Photo EFE

The 75 year old smoker, now a victim of Cancer, had claimed the Spanish State was responsible as the country's tobacco company was state owned.

The National Court in Spain has declared that smoking causes Cancer, but it also considers that the State is not responsible.

The decision comes after a member of the public, 75 year old Francisco Muñoz Bermúdez, suffering from cancer of the larynx, placed a denucia against Tabacalera, noting that tobacco company was owned by the State until the year 1998. He was demanding compensation of 300,000 € in concept of damages.

Muñoz started to smoke at the age of 13 and only the brands sold by Tabacalera, Fortuna, Ducados, Ideales and Celtas, and he claimed in court that nobody warned him of the dangers of tobacco addiction.

Magistrate Asunción Calvo Tumbo, conceded that smoking causes cancer, an admission that could create a legal jurisprudence, but said the State was not responsible as smoking was finally the exclusive responsibility of the individual. She considered that the State, while making tobacco available for sale, did not impose its consumption.

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