National Health Insurance Service Loses Second Appeal in 50 Billion Won Damages Lawsuit Against Tobacco Companies

"Cannot Presume Individual Causality Between Smoking and Lung Cancer"

The National Health Insurance Service has lost its appeal in a damages lawsuit worth approximately 50 billion won against tobacco companies.

On January 15, the Seoul High Court's Civil Division 6-1 (Presiding Judges Park Haebin, Kwon Soonmin, and Lee Kyunghoon) ruled in favor of KT&G, Korea Philip Morris, and British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea, dismissing the damages claim filed by the National Health Insurance Service. The Service had previously lost in the first trial as well.

The court stated, "The plaintiff was fulfilling its obligations under the Insurance Act and merely disbursing funds, so it is difficult to conclude that any legal interest of the plaintiff was infringed," adding, "It is hard to find any illegality in the first trial's decision not to recognize the plaintiff's direct right to claim."

Regarding the causal relationship between smoking and the onset of lung cancer, the court cited a Supreme Court precedent, stating, "Even if it is proven that an individual smoked and subsequently developed lung cancer, this alone does not prove the probability of a direct causal relationship between the two."

Previously, in April 2014, the Service filed a damages claim of approximately 53.3 billion won against tobacco companies, citing their social responsibility for the harms of smoking and aiming to prevent the leakage of health insurance funds.

The Service argued that due to defects in cigarettes imported, manufactured, and sold by the tobacco companies, 3,464 smokers developed small cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, as well as squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, and that as a result, the Service had to pay additional insurance benefits from 2003 to 2012.

In January 2020, the first trial ruled in favor of the tobacco companies. The court held that it must be additionally proven that the claimants had no other risk factors besides smoking, such as the timing and extent of exposure to smoking, lifestyle habits, and family history, and ruled against the National Health Insurance Service.

The Service appealed in December 2020, emphasizing the harmfulness of tobacco and the manufacturers' responsibility throughout the nearly five-year appeals process. However, the appellate court also ruled in favor of the tobacco companies. Meanwhile, the Service has stated that it intends to seek a judgment from the Supreme Court.