Cigarette smoking causes 80–90% of all lung cancer deaths in the United States. The major tobacco companies knew this for decades and kept selling their products anyway. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with lung cancer after a history of smoking, you may have a case.
Board Certified trial lawyer Alex Alvarez and medical-legal expert Herb Borroto, M.D., J.D., handle cigarette lung cancer cases for smokers and their families in Hawaii, Oregon, New Mexico, Illinois, and Florida. Free review. No fees unless we recover money for you.
By Alex Alvarez, Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer • Reviewed by Herb Borroto, M.D., J.D., Medical-Legal Expert • Last reviewed:
If all three of the boxes below describe your situation, a free case review is worth 15 minutes. You do not have to be 100% sure about any of them — close is close enough at this stage.
Most cigarette lung cancer cases involve smokers who used cigarettes regularly for years or decades, often starting before the public knew the full risks. It does not matter what brand you smoked, what state you lived in when you started, or whether you quit a long time ago. The cumulative damage from past smoking is what matters.
A confirmed lung cancer diagnosis is the medical foundation of any case. This includes non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in any of its sub-types, small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and mesothelioma when smoking and asbestos exposure occurred together. The diagnosis can be recent or from years ago — what matters is the date and the medical record.
Our firm currently handles cigarette lung cancer cases in Hawaii, Oregon, New Mexico, Illinois, and Florida. The state where the case can be filed depends on where you lived when you smoked, where you were diagnosed, and where you live now. If you are unsure, the free review will sort it out. Wrongful-death cases for a deceased loved one are handled in those same five states.
Free, confidential, and there is no fee unless we recover money for you.
The link between cigarettes and lung cancer is one of the most thoroughly documented findings in modern medicine. The numbers below come directly from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute — not from law firms.
Of lung cancer deaths
are caused by cigarette smoking, according to the CDC.
More likely to develop lung cancer
are people who smoke compared to people who have never smoked.
When tobacco companies knew
internal industry documents show cigarette manufacturers knew their products caused cancer by the early 1950s.
The carcinogens in cigarette smoke — including benzo[a]pyrene, formaldehyde, arsenic, and dozens of others — damage the cells lining the lungs and airways. Over years, that damage causes mutations that can lead to cancer. Many of those mutations stay in place even after a person quits, which is why former smokers can still develop lung cancer decades after their last cigarette.
That is the medical picture. The legal picture is what lets a case go forward: tobacco companies knew about these dangers for decades and chose to hide them. The U.S. Surgeon General first formally linked smoking to lung cancer in 1964 — but internal company documents released in later litigation showed the industry already knew, and was suppressing its own research, more than a decade before that.
A lung cancer diagnosis can be classified in several different ways. The categories below are the types most commonly linked to smoking, and any of them can support a case.
Roughly 80–85% of lung cancer cases. The major NSCLC sub-types are:
All three sub-types support a case when there is a documented smoking history.
Roughly 10–15% of lung cancer cases. SCLC is more aggressive than NSCLC, tends to spread faster, and is almost exclusively linked to smoking — the National Cancer Institute reports that the vast majority of SCLC patients have a substantial smoking history.
Because the smoking-SCLC link is so strong, these cases often have very clear causation.
Mesothelioma is caused primarily by asbestos exposure, but smoking dramatically increases the risk for people who were also exposed to asbestos. People with both exposures can have a case against the tobacco companies and the asbestos manufacturers. These combined-exposure cases require careful work to identify both responsible parties.
Less common types — including lung carcinoid tumors, bronchial gland tumors, and rare mixed-type cancers — can also support a case if there is a documented smoking history. The free case review covers any lung cancer diagnosis paired with a meaningful history of cigarette use.
The most common reason smokers don't pursue a case is that they assume they can't — that because they chose to smoke, they have no claim against the companies that sold them cigarettes. Courts across the country have rejected that argument for one simple reason: the tobacco companies committed fraud.
The major U.S. cigarette manufacturers — including Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Lorillard, and Liggett — spent decades publicly denying what their own internal scientists had already proven. They funded misleading research, manipulated nicotine levels to make their products more addictive, and aimed marketing at young people who could not have given informed consent. None of that is up for debate — it is on the record in federal court.
In 2006, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued a 1,683-page ruling in United States v. Philip Morris USA finding that the major cigarette companies had violated the federal RICO racketeering statute through a 50-year fraud scheme. That ruling was upheld on appeal. It sits in the public record alongside the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement and millions of pages of internal industry documents released through prior litigation.
What that means for an individual case: a smoker does not have to prove from scratch that cigarette companies lied. The federal courts have already found it. An individual case still has to prove the medical link between that specific smoker's history and their specific diagnosis, but the underlying fraud is established public record.
Every state sets a deadline — called a statute of limitations — for filing a personal injury or wrongful death case. Once it passes, a case usually cannot be brought, no matter how strong the evidence is. The deadlines below are general; the discovery rule and other state-specific factors can shift them.
2 years
From the date of diagnosis or death. Florida has its own discovery rule for cases where the harm wasn't apparent right away.
2 years
From the date of diagnosis or death. Illinois courts apply the discovery rule in cases where the smoking-cancer link wasn't known until later.
2 years
From the date the harm was, or reasonably should have been, discovered. Hawaii has strong consumer-protection laws relevant to tobacco cases.
2 years
From the date the smoker knew or reasonably should have known of the smoking-cancer connection. Oregon's product liability statute can also apply in some cases.
3 years
From the date of diagnosis or death for personal injury cases; longer for some wrongful-death and product liability claims.
Don't guess
The discovery rule, wrongful death rules, and pending litigation all affect the actual deadline in your case.
Confirm Your DeadlineA note on Florida: Florida has a long history of tobacco litigation, including the Engle class action. The Florida Supreme Court closed that class to new filings on January 11, 2008, so no new Florida smoker can file as an "Engle progeny" plaintiff today. But Florida smokers can still pursue standard product liability and fraud cases against the tobacco companies — and the Engle court's findings about the industry's conduct remain part of the public record those new cases can rely on. Read more on the Engle class →
If a parent, spouse, sibling, or child died of lung cancer after a history of smoking, your family may be able to bring a wrongful-death case against the tobacco companies. The same fraud and concealment evidence that supports a living smoker's case supports a wrongful-death claim — and many of the most significant verdicts in tobacco litigation have been wrongful-death cases brought by surviving families.
Each state has its own rules about who can file a wrongful-death case and on what timeline. In general, surviving spouses, children, and (in some states) parents and siblings have standing. The deadline usually starts on the date of death, though state-specific rules vary. Even if a smoker passed away years ago, it is worth a call — some windows are longer than people assume.
We handle these cases with care. Pulling medical records, identifying the responsible cigarette brands from the smoker's history, and connecting the medical and legal evidence is what the firm does — and it costs nothing to find out whether a case is possible.
You do not have to gather any of this before calling — we handle records requests for our clients at no cost. But if you want to be ready for a productive first conversation, the following items are the most useful.
A rough smoking history
Approximate years smoked, brands smoked (a few names is fine), about how many cigarettes per day, when you quit (if you have).
The diagnosis date and type
The month and year of the lung cancer diagnosis, and the cancer type if you know it (NSCLC, SCLC, etc.). Approximate is fine.
Treating physician and hospital names
The oncologist or pulmonologist who diagnosed the cancer, and the hospital or clinic where the diagnosis happened.
State residency history
Where you (or the person who passed) lived during the smoking years and where you live now — this affects which state's law applies.
For wrongful-death cases: date of death and surviving family
If you are calling on behalf of a loved one who passed, the date of death and a rough list of surviving family members (spouse, children, etc.).
What people ask most often about lung cancer cases — with plain-English answers.
The CDC reports that cigarette smoking causes about 80–90% of all lung cancer deaths in the United States. Smokers are 15 to 30 times more likely to develop lung cancer than people who have never smoked. The carcinogens in cigarette smoke damage cells in the lungs over years, and the damage continues even after a person quits — which is why former smokers can still develop lung cancer decades later.
Yes. Many of the lung cancer cases filed against tobacco companies involve former smokers who quit years or even decades before their diagnosis. The cumulative damage from past smoking remains, and lung cancer can take many years to develop. What matters legally is the smoking history and the link between that history and the diagnosis — not whether the person is still smoking today.
Possibly. Federal courts have already found that the major U.S. tobacco companies — including Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, and Lorillard — committed fraud and racketeering by hiding what they knew about smoking and cancer for decades. That public record, including the 2006 federal RICO ruling and the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, supports lawsuits filed by smokers and their families.
All major types of lung cancer linked to smoking can support a case. This includes non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) — which accounts for roughly 80–85% of cases and includes adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma — and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which is more aggressive and almost exclusively linked to smoking. Mesothelioma can also support a case when smoking and asbestos exposure occurred together.
Each state has its own statute of limitations. In Florida and Illinois the deadline is generally 2 years from the date of diagnosis or death. In Hawaii, Oregon, and New Mexico the windows vary, and the discovery rule may apply. Because these deadlines are strict, the only safe answer is to call as soon as possible after a diagnosis or after a loved one's death — even a short delay can permanently bar a case.
Surviving family members can bring wrongful-death lawsuits on behalf of a smoker who died from lung cancer caused by cigarettes. The same fraud and concealment evidence that supports a living smoker's case supports a wrongful-death claim, and surviving spouses, children, and other family members may be eligible to recover. State law controls who can file and what time limits apply.
Every factual claim on this page is supported by a verifiable public source. Click any source below to read the original.
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Decades of internal documents proving the cigarette industry knew the risks.
If a lung cancer diagnosis followed years of smoking — for you or for someone you love — the only way to know whether you have a case is a free, confidential review. Statutes of limitations are strict, and waiting can permanently close the door.
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