Kool, Newport Cigarette Lung Cancer Lawsuit Claims Tobacco Companies Concealed Smoking Risks

Lawsuit alleges tobacco companies deliberately increased the risk of nicotine addiction, particularly among young smokers.

An Illinois woman has filed a product liability lawsuit against several major tobacco companies and retailers, alleging they concealed the dangers of cigarette smoking and misled consumers about the products’ health risks and addictive properties.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Mae Ann Humphries in Illinois Circuit Court on September 21, naming R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Philip Morris USA Inc., Liggett Group LLC and Walgreen Co. as defendants. The case was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on October 22.

Defendants argue that Walgreens was improperly named because it did not design or manufacture the cigarettes Humphries smoked. They maintain that her negligence and strict liability claims against the retailer are legally insufficient.

Humphries says she began smoking cigarettes as a teenager in the mid-1960s. She claims she was unaware of the serious health risks that tobacco companies allegedly failed to disclose, leading to her addiction and eventual development of lung cancer.

Cigarette Injury Lawsuits 

Cigarettes have been at the center of numerous lawsuits alleging the products are addictive and harmful to human health. Many of these claims highlight steps tobacco executives took to conceal the dangerous effects of their products, as well as deceptive marketing tactics and efforts to downplay tobacco’s addictive qualities.

In 2015, three of the largest U.S. tobacco companies settled nearly 400 lawsuits filed by smokers or their decedents, alleging the companies hid information about cancer risks associated with smoking. The settlement paid more than $100 million to plaintiffs in the “Engle progeny” lawsuits.

In another “Engle progeny” lawsuit, a Florida jury awarded more than $23.6 billion in punitive damages in 2014 to the family of a smoker who died of lung cancer, following allegations that tobacco companies deliberately misled consumers about the dangers of smoking.

Tobacco Company Marketing Allegations

According to the complaint, Humphries began smoking Kool cigarettes at age 16 in 1966, switching to Newport 100s in the early 1980s. She continued smoking until 2016 and was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2024.

Humphries claims the cigarettes, which were manufactured by R.J. Reynolds and purchased from Walgreens stores, were unreasonably dangerous and caused her to develop lung cancer.

The filing alleges the defendants knew or should have known that smoking cigarettes greatly increased the risk of developing a number of health conditions. However, they allegedly failed to exercise reasonable care to warn consumers of the risks and dangers cigarettes pose, including lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, emphysema, COPD, heart disease, and other forms of cancer and disease.

Moreover, Humphries argues the companies designed cigarettes to be addictive and habit forming, and knew the products would lead to dependence, especially if a user began smoking at a young age.

Humphries alleges tobacco companies engaged in a decades-long campaign to mislead consumers about smoking risks, beginning with the industry’s 1954 “Frank Statement,” which questioned whether cigarettes caused cancer and maintained that further research was needed.

The complaint also cites testimony by tobacco executives before Congress in 1994, when they denied that cigarettes were addictive. Humphries maintains the companies continued making false or misleading statements about smoking risks and nicotine addiction for decades.

Humphries further alleges the companies concealed information about the health effects of cigarettes, failed to adequately test the products, failed to remove them from the market or recall them, failed to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes, and added additives such as menthol to make them easier to inhale and be more addictive.

“Defendant was negligent in utilizing tobacco and/or re-constituted tobacco that was high in nitrosamines, nitrates, nicotine, carcinogens, and other substances deleterious, poisonous, and highly harmful when alternative, less dangerous, materials were available to be used in the manufacturing process.”

— Mae Ann Humphries v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company et al.

The complaint raises claims of negligence, strict liability, fraudulent concealment, fraudulent misrepresentation and willful and wanton conduct against R.J. Reynolds, conspiracy claims against the three tobacco manufacturers, and negligence and strict liability claims against Walgreens.

Humphries seeks compensatory damages for lung cancer, medical expenses, pain and suffering and other injuries allegedly resulting from decades of cigarette smoking.

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