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May 16, 2001
Contact: Richard A. Daynard
A 6 person jury in New Brunswick, New Jersey today found Philip Morris Cos. and R.J. Reynolds Holdings, Inc. not liable for death of lung cancer victim Constance Mehlman. CASE BACKGROUND The plaintiff, Myron Mehlman, is the administrator of his late wife's estate. Constance Mehlman died on June 13, 1997, about 3 months after her diagnosis with lung cancer. The case was filed February 4, 1999. The trial took place in the New Jersey Superior Court in New Brunswick. Constance Mehlman smoked her first cigarette in 1951. Her brands were Camel (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.) and Marlboro (Philip Morris). She stopped smoking nearly 30 years prior to her death from lung cancer. Unfortunately, quitting smoking does not eliminate the cancer risk from past smoking. The latency of the injury can complicate the proof of causation required by the plaintiff to succeed in litigation. After four days of deliberation, this jury came to the conclusion that the defendant tobacco companies were not liable for the death of Ms. Mehlman. Claims in the plaintiff's complaint included: 1) Products liability (design defect); 2) fraud/constructive fraud; 3) breach of implied warranty; 4) consumer protection; 5) negligence; and 6) conspiracy. In closing arguments on May 8, 2001, lawyers for the plaintiff said that the two defendants waged a "disinformation campaign" about the health risks of smoking. Attorney Charles Patrick told the jury that RJR's internal documents showed that tobacco researchers admitted in the early 1960s that the "evidence that smoking causes cancer was overwhelming." Had there been less hazardous cigarettes or more detailed warnings, Constance Mehlman might have been able to quit smoking earlier and avoid the cancer that ultimately killed her. This was the first tobacco trial in New Jersey since the Cipollone case was tried in 1988. Plaintiffs have found success in 4 of the last 17 individual trials involving lung cancer, going back to the Grady Carter Verdict in 1996. COMMENT: "While this verdict is disappointing, it does little to relieve the tobacco industry of its extraordinary litigation burden. There are thousands of cases moving toward trial in the US including class actions, consumer fraud cases, insurer cost recovery cases, as well as individual lung cancer cases," noted Mark Gottlieb, a staff attorney at the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. "Although the people of Philip Morris may want to emphasize the importance of the Mehlman verdict, they would rather not think about the $700 million they agreed to pay to a class of injured Florida smokers and their families last week," Gottlieb added. The plaintiff is represented by Charles Patrick of Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole of Charleston, SC and by the Woodbridge, NJ firm of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer. The plaintiff reportedly served as an expert witness to the Ness-Motley firm in asbestos cases. RJR is represented by Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue and by the Morristown, NJ firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti. Philip Morris is represented by Dechert, Price & Rhoads. |