15 Nov, 2016 @ 12:34
1 min read

Non-smoker in Spain to sue hospital authorities after pre-op photo of him used on cigarette packets

nonsmoker

nonsmokerA NON-SMOKER in Spain is to sue hospital authorities after discovering a photograph of him was being used as a warning on cigarette packets.

The 54-year-old man, from Galicia, saw himself on the back of a pack of Marlboro Lights with the caption: “Smoking can cause embolisms and disability.”

The photo was taken when he was unconscious and attached to breathing apparatus while undergoing surgery at the Santiago de Compostela hospital last year.

non-smoker2The man, known only as FJTA, filed a complaint against the hospital authorities with the Guardia Civil.

He said that many of his neighbours had recognised him on the packets.

““I am in that hospital bed not because of the consequences of smoking but because of back problems,” he said, explaining that he had a titanium plate fitted in his spine.

Health authorities have launched an investigation.

Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

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