Video evidence played in tobacco case

Video-taped evidence from a woman six weeks before her death from lung cancer was played today during the civil action suit against a tobacco company in the High Court at Auckland.

Janice Pou was diagnosed with cancer in June 2001 and died on September 2002, aged 51.

She had smoked between 25 and 30 cigarettes a day for 35 years.

Early in 2002, Mrs Pou watched a documentary that suggested tobacco companies in New Zealand had resisted efforts to reduce smoking, the court was told.

She decided the "last major role in life would be to bring this proceeding against the tobacco companies".

Her two adult children, Brandon and Kasey - both in their 20s - resolved to continue the litigation as executors of their mother's estate after her death.

The Pous, who will not be in court, are seeking $310,966 in damages from British American Tobacco (NZ) and WD and HO Wills under the Deaths by Accident Compensation Act 1952, on behalf of their mother.

The Pous' lawyer, David Collins, QC, said in his opening submission yesterday that when their mother started smoking in 1967, the tobacco company had failed to warn her fully of potential health dangers.

Health warnings on cigarette packets first appeared in 1974 in New Zealand, seven years after Mrs Pou lit up her first Capstan cigarette.

Mrs Pou's evidence was recorded on August 6, 2002, in Invercargill District Court, and also from her hospital bed on August 12.

She spoke with a croaky whisper, in between gasps for breath and gulps of water, describing how she was a "shy and introverted" teenager with a "poor self-image".

She said the cigarette advertising in the 1960s lured her into believing smoking was universal and sophisticated.

Mrs Pou, the youngest of eight children, said she desperately wanted to be beautiful and mature, and the various advertisements for Capstan and Topaz cigarettes shown in the print media, billboards and in the movies depicted a glamorous world removed from Invercargill.

"I remember a very seductive scene of a beautiful woman lying on her back, and a handsome man lighting her cigarette. Capstan ads had a nautical theme with strong, handsome, rugged men and they all seemed so successful and glamorous," she said.

Mrs Pou said she had started smoking three a day when she was 17 while she worked at a deli but after a year she was smoking between 25 and 30 a day.

She said she was unaware of any dangers with smoking when she began, particularly because the tobacco company used sports stars Peter Snell and Don Clarke to promote their product.

Mr Collins said Mrs Pou described her attempts to give up smoking as "spectacular failures".

Her addiction was so severe she said she had never refrained for more than a few hours.

The plaintiffs will call close associates of Mrs Pou and a range of health professionals to the witness stand, including experts on addictive substances, and social historians.

Mr Collins said the defendants denied they had failed to warn the public of the possible health risks in the late 1960s in New Zealand.

They claim Mrs Pou was aware before she started smoking that it could lead to lung cancer and other fatal diseases, and she could have quit if she had made the decision to.

The case, before Justice Graham Lang, is expected to take five to six weeks.

- NZPA