If you have a smoking caused or related injury, you may want to seek legal advice. Taking legal action against a powerful industry group is a big step and should not be taken lightly. See these examples of past  litigation  involving tobacco companies.

ASH is not offering legal advice but we can recommend that you either contact your own solicitor or a specialist in personal injury or the  Australian Lawyers' Alliance.  ALA has a tobacco litigation committee and upon contact will  distribute a list of lawyers experienced in tobacco litigation. Before proceeding, ask your solicitor to fully explain any financial consequences of a court action.

Preventative report: government should explore legal action

The National Preventative Health Strategy 2009  report  to government recommends (p. 20) that government "investigate the feasibility of legal action by governments and others against tobacco companies."

How to "dob" in a tobacco company

Some former tobacco company employees have become whistleblowers and provided crucial information about the deceptive and misleading practices of the tobacco companies. For example, Dr Jeffrey Wigand, a former Brown and Williamson executive provided evidence that exposed tobacco companies for manipulating nicotine levels and covering up their knowledge about the addictiveness of nicotine.

Whistleblowers are yet to emerge in Australia, but former tobacco company employees who developed health problems from their exposure to cigarette testing machines and tobacco dust have successfully settled legal actions against their former bosses.

If you have any concerns about the practices of the tobacco industry, please  contact ASH  for advice.

                                         Page last updated  27/4/2010