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Smoker Wins First Phase In Tobacco Trial

By Eddie Farah

For those of us who have fought Big Tobacco for a long time, this was a much welcomed victory.

On Thursday, a jury in Florida ruled that a smoker was addicted to cigarettes and that is what led to his death. It was a huge setback for Philip Morris and could forecast the future for thousands of cases in Florida waiting to go to trial.

After the Engle class-action lawsuit was thrown out in 2006, all of the plaintiffs were told they would have to try their cases individually. This was the first of those cases. In this case, the jury found in favor of Elaine Hess, the widow of Stuart Hess. Stuart was unable to quit smoking and after 40 years he died of lung cancer. He was 55.

There are about 8,000 cases filed by law firms across the state, Farah and Farah among them. This first phase was to decide whether Hess’ death was caused by his addiction to cigarettes. Philip Morris had argued Hess could have quit if he wanted. His widow proved that Stuart Hess could not quit, even to save his life. The next phase will be compensatory damages.

When the Engle class-action was thrown out, along with the $145 billion, the Florida Supreme Court allowed to stand key findings that tobacco firms sold dangerous products then concealed the risk to smokers. That means individuals will not have to prove that again.

As you might expect Big Tobacco vows, "The Hess trial is not over," Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group, said in a statement.

They’re right, the next phase should start Friday and it will be interesting to see what percentage the jury will decide was the smokers own fault or the liability of the tobacco company. Stay Tuned. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on February 12, 2009 (boomark / email).