A responsabilidade civil da indústria tabagista

Abstract

Much is said about tobacco industry and the inherent harmfulness of product success, controversial claims and omissions by companies about the effects of smoking have greatly contributed to the divergence of perceptions in both doctrine and jurisprudence. What actually occurred for a certain period of time was the sale of a defective product, since the cigarette did not fulfill its duties of information, nor did it possess the security that was passed to those who set out to consume. Currently, the cigarette by means of impositions of the law fulfills its duty of information and is a product of undeniable lawfulness. Considering the arguments favorable and unfavorable to industry, the assessment of civil liability is not done in a peaceful way. In view of the fact that the question of liability in respect of damages caused, it is necessary to search for the causal link. If the conduct of the companies can lead to indemnification to the consumer, one can perceive the crisis of the causal link, since in the midst of so many casuistic peculiarities intrinsic to the smoking issue, one must seek the proper cause of the alleged damage, an arduous task, taking into account in view of the lack of a precise technique to ascertain the proper cause of a certain damage, thus remaining magisterial analysis, case by case, given the impossibility of collectively demanding issues of extreme peculiarity. At the decision-making level, there is a prevalence of decisions that exclude the responsibility of the tobacco industry - see STJ notices 432 and 436 - but this issue still has a current clash, there are current decisions against this understanding that seek a new facet the civil liability of the tobacco industry.