For solely a medical perspective, do you feel sorry for smokers?

Do you feel sorry for smokers who get such things as chronic viruses, eg bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, thorat cancer, heart attacks, strokes and so on? I know a smoker who recently got throat cancer, and I really dont feel sorry for him. He knew the effects of smoking, yet didn't quit. Smokers know the effects of smoking, yet contine, and suffer the painful, sometimes even agonising consequences. Please don't get into the tax and so on, this questio is solely from a medical view.