From nytimes.com

Jury Orders Philip Morris to Pay $28 Billion
By REUTERS


Filed at 3:11 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles jury on Friday ordered Philip Morris Cos. (MO.N) to pay a record $28 billion in punitive damages to a 64-year-old woman with lung cancer who blamed the tobacco giant for failing to warn her of the risks of smoking.

Philip Morris said it would appeal the judgement, the largest award ever in an individual tobacco liability lawsuit. The company said it would ask the court to set aside the verdict and order a new trial, or failing that to reduce the massive award.

Shares in Philip Morris were hammered, dropping over 5 percent to their lowest level since December 2000. The stock lost $2.00 to trade at 37.50 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange as shares of other tobacco companies also tumbled.

The Los Angeles jury deliberated for about a day and a half in the punitive damages phase of the trial after hearing testimony on the market value of Philip Morris.

``This jury should have focused on what the plaintiff knew about the health risks of smoking, and whether anything the company ever said or did improperly influenced her decision to smoke or not to quit. Instead, it appears that this decision speaks to more general policy issues regarding smoking that can't fairly be decided in lawsuits like this,'' said William S. Ohlemeyer, associate general counsel for Philip Morris.

Edward Sweda, senior attorney for the non-profit Tobacco Products Liability Project in Boston, called the verdict a ``tremendous victory for public health.''

The previous record for punitive damages was $3 billion awarded by a Los Angeles jury last year to a Marlboro smoker who later died. A judge later reduced that award to $100 million.

'ANGRY JURY'

A Florida jury awarded $144.8 billion to a statewide class of injured smokers in July 2000. That state court award is under appeal.

``It is truly an expression about how justifiably angry this jury was at Philip Morris after it learned ... the truly sordid history by this company of wrongdoing,'' Sweda said.

During the punitive damages phase, the jury heard from one witness for the plaintiff -- Robert Johnson, an economist who testified about the company's market value, which at that time was $83.4 billion.

The jury earlier found Philip Morris liable for fraud, negligence and product liability claims in the lawsuit brought by Betty Bullock of Newport Beach, California, and awarded Bullock $850,000 in compensatory damages.

Bullock, who began smoking at 17, contended the company hid evidence from its customers about the link between smoking and cancer. She said she believed the company when it said in the past there was no evidence that smoking caused cancer, despite medical evidence to the contrary.

Attorneys for the tobacco company said the leading U.S. cigarette maker played no role in the woman's addiction.

The lawsuit was the first to be tried since the California Supreme Court issued a pivotal ruling that protects cigarette makers from liability for actions between 1988 and 1997 -- the years covered by a state law that shielded companies from liability for products that were known to be dangerous.

The state legislature repealed the law so California could participate in the multi-state litigation and settlement against the tobacco industry.

Sweda, whose organization promotes anti-tobacco litigation, said the huge damages award in the Bullock case proved that the state Supreme Court decision would have little impact on future lawsuits.

``In an important way this is a very proud day for the American judicial system where average citizens ... sent a clear and positive message that this type of corporate wrongdoing is utterly outrageous and must be punished.
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http://www.nytimes.com/re...orris.html

Like no one thought 'hey, i'm breathing smoke directly into my lungs...i wonder if it's bad for me?'
I'm not a huge fan of smoking and i'm aware of the chemicals added to cigarettes to make them more addictive, but this is ridiculous.

I have to agree...it is ridiculous!!!

Now in the past I do have to say I think they were covering things up, but I wonder if she continued smoking after learning that they cause Cancer.

I know many ppl with lung cancer or have died from it and I have to say 75% of them never smoked a cigarette. Now I'm aware of 2nd hand smoke, but don't think it's the cause of all the lung cancer found today.

Wow 28 billion dollars... whew that's a lot of many for one person.

Much Love,
LoLinex

Wow, that'll buy a lot of ripple.

Holy shit! I"m gonna sue for my smoking habit now!

B-i-l-l-*I*-o-n...by the way.

CarrieLee said:

Get in line, i want sue PMorris for getting my parents to smoke--who then 'forced' me to inhale 2nd hand smoke. Talk about not really having a choice.

What a great country we have...you can go your whole life without a clue, then blame someone else for your addictive stupidity.

YEAH!! Bring the tobacco murderers down! It's nice to cheer for the lawyers for a change.

There is no other product manufacturered in this country, or anywhere else for that matter, that is as patently defective as the cigarette. This year in the US, another 400,000 people will die because they purchase and use the cigarette in the manner designed by the manufacturer. It's insane.

Warning labels or not, there is no other product sold ANYWHERE that kills as many of its users as the cigarette. The problem is worldwide.

sweet! i've only been smoking a year and a half now. when do i get MY billions? can't wait! i know just what i'll buy first...

This is RIGGODDAMNDICULOUS.A grown adult who makes their Own decision should not be able to sue because they made a bad one.

No sympathy for Philip Morris Inc.

Let's be real, if drinking a can of Diet Coca-Cola killed 10 people a year - guess what...no more Diet Coke. It wouldn't be "illegal" to buy it or drink it, but no company would be foolish enough to manufacture and sell it. It would be classified as a defective product. No warning label would justify it's sale to anyone. The Coca-Cola Co would be sued out of existence - appropriately.

See:

• Fen-Phen
  
• Ford Explorers with certain Firestone tires
  
• sinus or diet products with phenylpropanolamine (PPA)
  
• silicone breast implants
  
• the Ford Pinto
  
• the Chevrolet Corvair
  
• countless children's toys that cause choking
  
• Diethylstilbestrol (DES)
  
• the Honda 3-wheelers (ATV's)
  

Or one of my other favorites: In 1990, there were traces of benzene (5ug/liter), a cancer causing chemical, found in bottles of Perrier water. This led to a world-wide recall of the product, including 70 million bottles from the US. As it turns out, smoking a cigarette exposes you to 25ug of benzene, 5 times the amount once found in a bottle of Perrier - where's the recall by the tobacco companies?

I'm glad they nailed phillip-morris.I just think that money should be given to all the smokers and their families that suffered and not just one person.I don't smoke so i wouldn't have any personal interest in the settlement.

TheMax said:

The only problem with your argument here is that the cola lobbies are almost as powerful as the tobacco lobbies. It would be treated much the same.

I'm just thinking of the lawyer's cut. Probably 33.3% (over $9.3 billion).

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the award gets significantly reduced, either by the trial judge or on appeal.

Makes me wanna be a lawyer - and that's a first!

Agree that the award will be reduced, but there are a lot of others sick smokers and plenty of hungry lawyers.

AaronForever said:

Perhaps.

Historian Stephen Ambrose Dies at 66

(AP) - Stephen E. Ambrose, whose best-selling books made America's aging World War II veterans hometown heroes again, died early Sunday at a Bay St. Louis, Miss., hospital. He was 66. Ambrose, a longtime smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer in April.

Another victim of big tobacco. Today, there were another 1,000 similar premature deaths in the US alone. Frankly, $28 billion is not enough. They ought to be sued out of existence.

This is some bullshit. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions anymore. People have to be responsible for their own shit. I know quitting is HARD, but it's not impossible...

I don't have sympathy for the companies, but why should one person benefit so ridiculously??? Will this not cause more smokers to sue instead of quit?