Each time I read a news report about a lawsuit filed against tobacco companies, or a jury award in such a case, I salute the courage and tenacity of those individuals and families who continue to carry the tobacco battle forward in the courtroom. Of course, the lawyers deserve credit as well, and there are many others among the global tobacco control community who have contributed time and expertise to such cases, sometimes at considerable personal sacrifice. But given the enormous physical, financial and personal burdens plaintiffs face in going up against the industry’s armies of well-paid lawyers and their investigators and consultants, who leave no stone unturned in excavating the personal pasts of plaintiffs and trying to excoriate them in court, it is truly an act of exceptional courage for those who bring these cases to carry on.

A few months ago, Dr Howard Engle died of chronic obstructive lung disease. He was the Miami Beach paediatrician whose tobacco lawsuit accusing tobacco companies of knowingly addicting people and failing to warn them of the …