It has long been the consensus in the medical profession that passive smoking is dangerous, so there was outrage when the British Medical Journal of May 17th published a study which found that non-smokers whose spouse smoked did not suffer lung cancer or other smoking-related diseases as a result.

ECONOMIST: Ups and downs for Big Tobacco

This type of payout doomed most of the companies that made or handled asbestos, since it allowed lawyers to process tens of thousands of claims by workers with smoking-related and naturally caused diseases and overwhelm trusts established to pay for asbestosis and mesothelioma.

FORBES: BP Settles With Plaintiff Lawyers, Pegs Cost At $7.8 Billion

According to research in more than one million women, those who give up smoking by the age of 30 will almost completely avoid the risks of dying early from tobacco-related diseases.

BBC: Smoking 'poses bigger risk to women'