By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter


A report by Seoul National University Hospital released said Friday a link between smoking and lung cancer could not be confirmed for six cancer patients who had filed compensation suits against the Korea Tobacco and Ginseng Corp. (KT&G).

The report, submitted to a Seoul court in connection with five-year-long lawsuits, is expected to draw heated debate.

Presenting the results of an examination of the plaintiffs’ medical documents, the hospital said it could not find any connection between their history of smoking and lung cancer.

``With the medical documents, it was also impossible to decide how long the six patients had been exposed to other factors contributing to cancer and how seriously different factors affected the development of the disease,’’ it said.

The report added that while medical research can give an indication of the average risk a person belonging to a certain group has of developing lung cancer, it cannot be applied to individual cases.

Individual examinations of the plaintiffs had shown three of the individuals, including a man with small-cell lung cancer that has almost been completely cured, were also exposed to air pollution, drinking and pesticide, all of which can contribute to the development of the disease.

A plaintiff, identified as Cho who has already died, was diagnosed as having adenocarcinoma, which is less related to smoking. Another patient, with the surname Lee, had lung and laryngeal cancer, but had a history of lung disease and drinking, and had been exposed to pesticide.

The hospital refrained from making a judgment concerning addiction to smoking, saying the medical documents gave no indication of when the people started smoking, how much they smoked and whether they had tried to quit.

While the court said it would be taking the hospital’s opinion into account, it indicated that findings could differ among experts. It added the examination was for the specific cases of the six plaintiffs and not for a general relationship between smoking and lung cancer.

The court also said it would make a ruling as soon as possible after all evidence is received by Nov. 22.

However, lawyer Bae Keum-ja, who represents the plaintiffs, said she plans to question the content of the report.

The six lung cancer patients and 37 of their family members filed compensation suits against KT&G and the government in 1999.

Following a court order, the government released in August documents concerning the relationship between cigarette smoke and lung cancer that indicated that the government and KT&G had been aware of the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes since the 1960s.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr