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In November 2000, Turkey’s first tobacco litigation, a personal injury case in the district court in Edirne, in the north-west of Turkey near the borders with Greece and Bulgaria, was filed against Tekel, the Turkish tobacco monopoly. The plaintiff was Yurdagül Tufan, 44, a smoker since she was 17, who was responsible for the support of her blind husband and their young daughter.
After diagnosis and first line therapies, an improvement in her health was achieved. Knowing that as much as possible was being done for her physical health, albeit for a terminal disease, her doctor gave more thought to what else could be done for her overall well-being. The woman was desperately concerned for the welfare of her husband and baby, for whom she would soon be unable to care and then would leave behind for ever when she died. Although nothing could be done to save her life, at least she might be helped to understand that she was not the only one …