The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

R.J. Reynolds lost an appeal decision of a San Francisco jury's decision to award the family of a woman who died of lung cancer millions of dollars. The 40-year-old woman died in 2000 after smoking cigarettes for 26 years. The jury awarded her family $2.85 million.

The woman testified she began smoking when she was 13-years-old and smoked two packs a day until she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998. The woman claimed she did not pay attention to the warnings since the benefits of smoking were pushed by the tobacco companies. She sued Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds. Four months before she died, a jury awarded her and her husband $1.7 million in compensation and $20 million in punitive damages.

It has been reported that this was the nation's first verdict in favor of someone who began smoking after 1965. That was the year the government began putting warnings on cigarette packages.

In 2004, a state appeals court granted the tobacco companies a new trial. A law that immunized them from damages for harm caused by tobacco products between 1988 and 1998 was cited. However, a second jury awarded the woman's family the $2.85 million in 2007.

Tobacco companies appealed this, claiming they were not responsible for any statements made by industry groups and that research regarding harm caused by cigarettes was still inconclusive up through the 1980s.

Last October, the verdict was upheld by a state appeals court. The court stated tobacco companies influenced the research of several industry groups through bankrolling them. The court stated the companies never tried to contradict false statements made by trade groups, and added to this by engaging in a "campaign of deception" at the same time to keep people smoking.

The California high court denied a review of the companies' appeal with a unanimous vote.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or has developed a disease because of a dangerous product, please contact the experienced defective product attorneys at the Cochran Firm for an initial consultation.