R.J. Reynolds & Philips Morris Hit With $25M Tobacco Verdict

Introduction

On Wednesday, February 27, following a three-week trial, a Florida jury hit R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA Inc. with $25 million in punitive damages for the victim's cigarette addiction and fatal lung cancer and awarded $12 million in compensatory damages to her widower.

The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff, awarding him an additional $5,500 for funeral expenses. Reynolds and Philip Morris both bore 45% responsibility for the woman's death, and the woman herself was held 10% responsible. The case is one among the thousands of cigarette smoking lawsuits originating from the Engle class action against tobacco companies.

In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court decertified the Engle class but later ruled that Engle progeny cases can be tried individually. The woman died in 1999, seven years after doctors detected her lung cancer and removed her right lung. Her family blamed R.J. Reynolds and Philips Morris for hiding cancer and respiratory disease risks caused due to smoking.

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