Man in France claims picture shows his leg but Brussels says any similarity is coincidental

A man in France has lodged a complaint after claiming an image of his amputated leg was used as a health warning on tobacco packets across the EU without his permission.

The 60-year-old man, who lives in Metz, eastern France, claims a picture displayed on a packet of rolling tobacco alongside the message “smoking clogs your arteries” is of his leg.

The tobacco was bought in Luxembourg by his son who said he recognised in the picture the burns and scars of his father’s leg, according to reports in French media.

The European commission, which is responsible for the graphic images of smoking-induced disease on cigarette packets, rejected the claim, saying any similarity was purely coincidental.

Under a 2014 law all cigarettes and rolling tobacco sold in the EU must carry a warning of the health problems caused by smoking, which should consist of text and a photograph covering at least 65% of packaging.

The European commission says every person depicted in its library of 42 images signed a consent form. “We can confirm that the individual mentioned is not depicted in the library of health warnings,” said a European commission spokesperson for health and food safety.

Antoine Fittante, a lawyer for the complainant, said: “We will have no trouble to prove that this is my client.” He said he had written to the commission and to a French hospital said to have taken a photograph of his client’s leg. “My client feels betrayed, wounded in his dignity to see his disability on cigarette packets in tobacco shops. One must admit this isn’t very nice.”

His unnamed client lost his leg in 1997 after an attack in his native Albania. Six weeks before the apparent discovery on the tobacco packet last year, the man visited a hospital in France where a photograph of his leg was taken.

According to the commission, the current crop of 42 pictures was chosen in 2014 following consultations with lawyers to check consent declarations. The photographs are used on a rotating basis to prevent the images from losing their shock value.

“Any similarity to other individuals not having given consent, however unfortunate, is purely coincidental,” states a commission document on the policy.