Personal Injury Law

Friday Deadline for Thousands of Tobacco Cases

By Eddie Farah

An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 cases will be filed in Florida courts today under a deadline set to file lawsuits for smoking related illnesses.

A 2006 state Supreme Court decision decertified a class-action punative verdict of $145 billion, the largest award ever granted against the tobacco companies, but directed injured smokers to file individual lawsuits.

Smokers all over Florida who got sick from 1990 to 1996 are eligible to file suit naming R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, The American Tobacco Co, Philip Morris and Lorillard.

The Engle case as it's known was brought on behalf of thousands of Floridians.

The lawsuit, named for now-deceased pediatrician Howard Engle, found that a) Tobacco companies were negligent; b) Their products are defective and unreasonably dangerous; c) Cigarettes are addictive; d) Cigarette companies conspired to conceal health and addiction information with the intention of consumer reliance on the misinformation; and e) Cigarette companies were liable for breach of express warranty.

The suit also established that cigarette smoke caused 16 different diseases including lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and others.

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on January 11, 2008 (boomark / email).