(123rf)
담배로 인해 피해를 입었다며 폐암환자와 사망한 사람의 유족 등이 담배 제조회사를 상대로 낸 소송에서 최종 패소했다.
지난 1999년 소송이 제기된 지 15년 만에 나온 대법원 첫 판결인 이 건은 최근 건강보험공단이 준비 중인 수백억원대 규모의 담배소송에도 영향을 미칠 가능성이 클 것으로 보인다.
대법원 2부(주심 신영철 대법관)는 10일 김모씨 등 폐암으로 사망한 사람의 유족 등 36명이 KT&G와 국가를 상대로 낸 손해배상 청구소송에서 원고 패소 판결한 원심을 확정했다.
재판부는 KT&G가 제조한 담배에 결함이나 담배의 위해성에 관한 정보를 은폐했다고 볼 수 없다고 밝혔다. 법원은 이어 KT&G가 성분분석 등으로 알게 된 정보를 모두 공개할 의무가 없고 KT&G가 제조한 담배에 다른 담배와 다른 특별한 위해성이 있다고 볼 수도 없다고 밝혔다.
흡연과 폐암의 관계에 대해서 법원은 “폐암은 흡연으로만 생기는 특이성 질환이 아니라 물리적·생물학적·화학적 인자 등 외적 환경인자와 생체의 내적 인자의 복합적 작용에 의하여 발병될 수 있는 비특이성 질환”이라고 판단했다.
앞서 1심 법원은 담배소송에 대해 암이 “흡연으로 인한 것이라는 점을 인정할 증거가 없다”며 원고 패소로 판결했다.
항소심 법원도 원고 패소 판결했으나 일부 피해자들에 대해 “흡연과 암의 개별적 인과관계”를 인정했다. 다만 “KT&G의 담배에 결함이 존재하거나 고의로 거짓 정보를 제공하는 등 위법행위가 있다고 보기는 어렵다”는 이유로 원고 패소 판결했다.
(코리아헤럴드 석지현 기자 monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)
<관련 영문 기사>
Supreme Court rejects smokers’ damages suit
Health insurance agency to go ahead with suit against tobacco makers
The nation’s top court on Thursday threw out a damages suit filed by ailing smokers seeking compensation from the country’s largest tobacco firm, KT&G, citing the absence of a causal connection between smoking and their lung cancer.
Ending the two 15-year-long tobacco lawsuits, the South Korean Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that there is a lack of proof that smoking was the specific cause of their cancer.
“It can’t be seen that KT&G tried to conceal information about the risk of smoking,” the court said in its ruling. “KT&G has no obligation to reveal all data from its analysis of the ingredients, and there’s no proof that the firm’s products can cause more harm than other cigarettes.”
As for the connection between smoking and lung cancer, the court said that smoking is not the only cause of lung cancer, and it can result from the combined influence of external physical, biological and chemical elements and internal elements of the human body.
KT&G welcomed the decision, saying the latest ruling clarified that it had not breached the law in producing and selling cigarettes.
The legal fight began in 1999, when 36 cancer patients and family members of smokers who died from the disease filed the suit against the government and formerly state-run KT&G.
According to court records, the plaintiffs claimed that KT&G added elements that increased the risk to smokers’ health and chance of addiction.
In 2007, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of the Korean tobacco giant, citing a lack of evidence proving the smokers’ lung and laryngeal cancers resulted form smoking the company’s cigarette products. In 2011, an appeals court upheld the district court’s ruling, saying that KT&G had not provided false information about the risk.
The Supreme Court’s latest verdict is expected to affect the legal fight being planned by the state-run National Health Insurance Service against major tobacco firms at home and abroad.
The NHIS said the top court’s verdict would not change its stance in the upcoming lawsuit.
“The rulings have shown that it’s difficult for an individual to win a suit against a tobacco firm. It only increases the need for the national health insurer to step up and take measures,” an official from the NHIS told local media.
The agency said it would file a complaint against global companies such as British American Tobacco, KT&G and Philip Morris on Monday.
The Korea Tobacco Association criticized the insurer, saying it should scrap the plan to avoid wasting tax payers’ money, based on the judiciary’s past rulings in favor of tobacco producers.
Thursday’s court decision ended the last of four compensation lawsuits against tobacco firms brought in Korea, all by individuals or families. So far, there has been no precedent in the country for successful legal action against a tobacco firm.
By Suk Gee-hyun (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)
