Philippe Boucher's Rendez Vous Maurice Tubiana
Rendez-vous with Maurice Tubiana
President, French Alliance against Tobacco. Paris, France
By Philippe Boucher
Thursday, December 23, 1999
Rendez-vous with Pr Maurice Tubiana
Thank you Professor for accepting our "rendez-vous" .
May I ask you to introduce yourself ?
I am an oncologist. I was the director of the Institut Gustave Roussy which is the largest cancer hospital and research center in continental Europe.I am now retired but am the President of the French Alliance for Health.
First question : recently the French cigarette company SEITA was judged partially responsible for the sickness caused by tobacco to Richard Gourlain. Richard Gourlain started smoking Seita's products in 1963 when he was 13. He was never able to stop (although he tried several times) and died at 49 in January of 1999, killed by his 3 tobacco related cancers.
This decision makes the front page of many newspapers with reports on the radio, TV, etc’Ķ
What is your own personal reaction as someone who was instrumental in the enactment of the two anti-tobacco french acts, the 1976 loi Veil and the 1991 loi Evin ?
I feel that the decision was proper.
Until 1976 there was no warning on cigarette packs regarding the detrimental health effects of tobacco. So it is legitimate to consider that the tobacco producers, who knew since 1953 the health effects of tobacco, did not properly inform smokers.
I must admit that when we prepared the loi Veil and the loi Evin we did not envisage the possibility of litigation.
2. The court made a distinction between various moments in Richard Gourlain's life : when he was under 18 the court decided the Seita was 100% responsible. This responsibility dropped to 60% after he reached 18 and dropped to zero when the first warnings were set up on the packs, a consequence of the enactment of the loi Veil, in july 1976.
If I recall correctly the only text was "abus dangereux" ?
How do you feel about the distinction made by the court and do you feel the warnings one the packs were adequate in 1976 ?
Do you remember what was Seita's position at the time ?
What about now ? apparently today's warnings are not so adequate since the new EU directive aims at enlarging them considerably ?
I would have preferred a higher responsibility of the Seita till the loi Evin, but I understand that the court felt that when he became an adult he was more aware of the risks with regard to the health warning.
I feel we should enlarge them, in order to better protect the teenager.
This will not change the responsibility of the cigarette manufacturers.
The Seita was not in favor of health warnings and is still reluctant to see them enlarged.
3. Many commentators speak about the loss of individual responsibility and an americanization of the French legal system. You have seen many cancer patients dying because of tobacco, how responsible do you think they were ? and how responsible do you think were the companies selling tobacco products ?
Do you think it was appropriate for Richard Gourlain to sue the Seita ?
It was appropriate to sue tobacco manufacturers because teenagers were manipulated by aggressive advertising.
4. Pr Claude Got declared that in his opinion the State was also responsible because not enough had been done, is done in France to inform people about the risks of smoking. In a recent article in Le Figaro entitled "Against smoking" you appeared also rather critical of the lack of political will and adequate anti-tobacco programs in France. What does not work in France and what could/should be done ?
Since the loi Evin, many measures have been enacted by the government and the Parliament but much remains to be done.
The price of cigarettes has doubled, but although it is much higher than in the USA it remains too low, in particular regarding rolling tobacco.
The public attitude has changed, but not enough.
The main remaining problems are:
a) the high proportion of smokers at 18 years (about 50% in both genders). We should better inform them and develop health education at school (from 5 to 12 years) and clinics for tobacco cessation.
We should also fight against promotion and indirect advertising such as seen in movies for example. b) Women: 25% of pregnant women smoke. This is a terrifying proportion. We should educate them and introduce clinics of tobacco cessation in obstetric departments. The whole strategy against women's smoking should be reconsidered and become more aggressive. c) Smoking in underprivileged socioeconomic classes.
This is perhaps the most difficult problem. We should introduce better protection of non-smokers, in particular in the workplace. This is a way to show that smokers could stop smoking during many hours and to encourage them to tobacco cessation. Finally, the government should devote more funds to the fight against smoking and better implement the protection of non-smokers.
5. The Seita said it will appeal the court's decision.
Francis Caballero, Richard Gourlain's lawyer said there was another suit ready to be filed, in Bˆ©ziers on behalf of the family of a young woman who died in her thirties. My impression is that unless you file a lawsuit nobody in the media and political world is going to care about tobacco victims. If that is the case, shouldn't the cancer charities support the victims who want to file such suits ?
It looks to me like a very cost effective way to inform about the risks of smoking and denounce the hypocrisy of the tobacco manufacturers ?
Yes, I agree, the associations should support the smokers and the victims of passive smoking who sue tobacco manufacturers.
Thank you Professor for taking the time to be with us today. Prepared by Philippe Boucher mailto:IslandErsk@aol.com
***********************
Go To: Tobacco BBS HomePage / Resources Page / Health Page / Documents Page / Culture Page / Activism Page
***********************
***********************
END OF DOCUMENT