Tobacco companies have spent decades trying to suppress knowledge of how dangerous smoking is. This isn't about just one guy.
JUL 19, 2014 6:04PM ET / NATIONAL
[h=1]Florida Jury Awards a $23 BILLION Settlement in Smoking Case[/h]ADAM CHANDLER 3,440 VIEWS
APA Florida jury smacked R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest cigarette company, with $23.6 billion in damages in a smoking case late on Friday. It only seems to fair to say that the decision will prompt a quick appeal and that there's a pretty strong possibility that this award is going to be reduced.
The suit was filed the widow of Michael Johnson Sr., a longtime smoker who died oflung cancer at the age of 36, leaving behind two children. From the AP:
The case is one of thousands filed in Florida after the state Supreme Court in 2006 tossed out a $145 billion class actionverdict. That ruling also said smokers and their families need only prove addiction and that smoking caused their illnesses or deaths.The four-week trial yielded 18 hours of deliberations before $17 million in compensatory damages was awarded. Then came the hammer. A $23.6 billion punitive judgment. The amount, while fun to think about, will almost certainly be reduced. As Frances Robles explained:
Last year, Florida's highest court re-approved that decision, which made it easier for sick smokers or their survivors to pursue lawsuits against tobacco companies without having to prove to the court again that Big Tobacco knowingly sold dangerous products and hid the hazards of cigarette smoking.
Such efforts by the industry are often successful. In October 2002, a Los Angeles jury awarded $28 billion in punitive damages against Philip Morris USA. In August 2011, an appeals court reduced the punitive damages to $28 million.
Anyone recall the BP oil spill two years ago and BP got nailed for 22 billion???!!! (one Billion less)Can you say "Our jjudicial system has gone mad"?
But, the truth has been exposed?
Yes, and? The crime was still committed.
Crime? What crime?
Tobacco companies have spent decades trying to suppress knowledge of how dangerous smoking is. This isn't about just one guy.
Intentionally deceiving people about the deadly product you're selling them with the intent of getting more people to get addicted before any resistance to your product starts up. Deliberately marketing that deadly product to children.
Cut the crapola, Surgeon General's warnings have been on every pack for DECADES.
Now this is hyperbole. Stores decide whether they sell cigarettes or not. Not tobacco companies. Stores also decide whether they put up ads or not in their store. And last I knew everyone has known the effects of cigarettes for at least 30-40 years. In fact tobacco companies have been required by the surgeon general that they must put a warning on the dangers of smoking on every single pack of cigarettes. That requirement has been in effect since 1969, and the tobacco companies are required to submit an annual report on the health consequences of smoking.
CDC Link
And the decades before that?
Tobacco companies have spent decades trying to suppress knowledge of how dangerous smoking is. This isn't about just one guy.
Intentionally deceiving people about the deadly product you're selling them with the intent of getting more people to get addicted before any resistance to your product starts up. Deliberately marketing that deadly product to children.
Now this is hyperbole. Stores decide whether they sell cigarettes or not. Not tobacco companies. Stores also decide whether they put up ads or not in their store. And last I knew everyone has known the effects of cigarettes for at least 30-40 years. In fact tobacco companies have been required by the surgeon general that they must put a warning on the dangers of smoking on every single pack of cigarettes. That requirement has been in effect since 1969, and the tobacco companies are required to submit an annual report on the health consequences of smoking.
CDC Link
$28Bil for one person makes me want to start smoking.JUL 19, 2014 6:04PM ET / NATIONAL
[h=1]Florida Jury Awards a $23 BILLION Settlement in Smoking Case[/h]ADAM CHANDLER 3,440 VIEWS
APA Florida jury smacked R.J. Reynolds, America's second-largest cigarette company, with $23.6 billion in damages in a smoking case late on Friday. It only seems to fair to say that the decision will prompt a quick appeal and that there's a pretty strong possibility that this award is going to be reduced.
The suit was filed the widow of Michael Johnson Sr., a longtime smoker who died oflung cancer at the age of 36, leaving behind two children. From the AP:
The case is one of thousands filed in Florida after the state Supreme Court in 2006 tossed out a $145 billion class actionverdict. That ruling also said smokers and their families need only prove addiction and that smoking caused their illnesses or deaths.The four-week trial yielded 18 hours of deliberations before $17 million in compensatory damages was awarded. Then came the hammer. A $23.6 billion punitive judgment. The amount, while fun to think about, will almost certainly be reduced. As Frances Robles explained:
Last year, Florida's highest court re-approved that decision, which made it easier for sick smokers or their survivors to pursue lawsuits against tobacco companies without having to prove to the court again that Big Tobacco knowingly sold dangerous products and hid the hazards of cigarette smoking.
Such efforts by the industry are often successful. In October 2002, a Los Angeles jury awarded $28 billion in punitive damages against Philip Morris USA. In August 2011, an appeals court reduced the punitive damages to $28 million.
Anyone recall the BP oil spill two years ago and BP got nailed for 22 billion???!!! (one Billion less)Can you say "Our jjudicial system has gone mad"?
Intentionally deceiving people about the deadly product you're selling them with the intent of getting more people to get addicted before any resistance to your product starts up. Deliberately marketing that deadly product to children.
Who bought them and smoked them? It was a self-inflicted wond of his own choice. His body, his say, not yours. Case closed.Who made and sold him the cigarettes that put him in his grave?
Who bought them and smoked them? It was a self-inflicted wond of his own choice. His body, his say, not yours.Case closed.
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