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One of the big pet peeves of your humble correspondent is when tobacco lawsuit plaintiffs declare that the hazards of smoking cigarettes were kept secret by the tobacco companies and, as a result, they continued smoking thinking that it was safe to do so. Yeah, some "secret" when each and every pack of cigarettes has had the Surgeon General's warning printed on them for over 40 years. My own mother was a regular smoker until that day back in the 60s when the Surgeon General declared smoking to be hazardous to your health. And on that day my mother quit...

MANCHESTER — A jury yesterday rejected a Manchester widow’s claims that Philip Morris was responsible for the lung cancer death of her husband, a lifelong Marlboro smoker. Julien Longden, a Vietnam War veteran who worked as a supervisor for a Nashua vacuum pump company, was 49 when he died in May 2000. “I don’t understand it, I don’t know what happened,” said Sheila Longden after the decision was handed down. The verdict, delivered after two days of deliberation, brought an end to the first product liability case against a tobacco company ever to go to trial in New Hampshire. The...

DUBLIN, Ireland - Rebellious pub owners and the health minister clashed Friday over the government's determination to introduce a smoking ban in workplaces across Ireland. Health Minister Micheal Martin has ordered that all workplaces must become smoke-free after Jan. 1 — a ban similar to one enacted in New York City. John O'Sullivan, chairman of an association that represents the 380 pub owners in County Kerry, said more than 200 who attended an industry gathering had voted to ignore Martin's instructions and to create special areas for smokers in their pubs. Industry officials predicted more regional revolts — making the...

This is a story of one of the greatest heists in modern American history. It is a story of how billions of dollars were transferred from taxpayers to a small group of avaricious trial lawyers. Five years ago these trial lawyers became fabulously wealthy off of other people’s pain and suffering—and they did it with impunity. That is, hopefully, until now. I am referring to the 1998 tobacco litigation agreement reached between states and tobacco companies. This famous legal settlement required the tobacco companies to reimburse states nearly $250 billion over 25 years for the smoking-related health care costs incurred...

Back in the early 1970s, the hippie culture chanted "down with the establishment." Today, they are the adults -- teachers, reporters, lawyers, judges, legislators, and they make up the membership of dozens of foundations and non-government organizations -- affecting the establishment. And still, each group, in its own way, seems to be working to dismantle our American establishment. As far as the average American citizen is concerned, our judicial system has become lethargic, cumbersome and ineffective at protecting our rights. Often, the judicial system appears little more then the playground for corrupt lawyers and their partners, the judges. One case...

Some of the nation's most notorious personal injury lawyers are mounting an all-out assault on America's healthcare system that could batter it into a smoldering ruin before the next Presidential election. If successful, these unelected and unaccountable lawyers will raise healthcare costs to the point where millions of Americans and their employers may find themselves priced out of the system. Fresh from the tobacco wars and currently representing only a handful of plaintiffs, the lawyers' are attempting to convince a Miami-based federal judge that they should be allowed to represent almost all of the nation's 600,000 physicians as well as...