|
Contact: Richard Daynard e-mail to media[at]tplp.org (use @sign)
July 28, 2003
Jury Finds
Tobacco Industry Liability
Background and Commentary on the Trial Verdict
GLORIA
SCOTT and DEANIA JACKSON, vs.
PHILIP MORRIS INC.; R.J. REYNOLDS
TOBACCO COMPANY; LORILLARD TOBACCO COMPANY, INC.; BROWN & WILLIAMSON TOBACCO
CORPORATION, individually and as successor by merger to THE AMERICAN TOBACCO
COMPANY; and THE TOBACCO INSTITUTE, INC.,
CIVIL DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
PARISH OF ORLEANS Case No. 96-8461
In a landmark class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of smokers seeking payment by the major cigarette manufacturers of medical monitoring for 1.5 million Louisiana smokers and for programs to help smokers quit, a jury decided today that the major U.S. tobacco companies are liable to smokers in Louisiana for smoking cessation services. Approximately 7,000 people in Louisiana die each year of smoking-caused diseases. The jury, however, rejected lung cancer screenings for the class.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Louisiana residents who took up smoking as of May, 1996. The class definition in Scott was defined as:
The plaintiffs are represented by a consortium of about fifty law firms known as the Castano P.L.C. that was organized in 1994 to pursue a national class action on behalf of all smokers. That class action was ultimately decertified and, on the next day, May 24, 1996, the consortium of attorneys filed the Scott case.
Not seeking direct monetary damages, the plaintiffs contend that the companies misled the public about the dangers of smoking, manipulated nicotine levels to keep smokers addicted and targeted youths with advertising and marketing. The tobacco companies do not face the prospect of punitive damages in this case.
The lead plaintiff is Gloria Scott, a home health-care worker.
Opening statements in the case were given in January 2003. Testimony in the case has taken six months. Jury deliberations began on Friday, July 25. The jury consists of 12 members, including 7 alternates; they were chosen more than a year ago from a pool of about 1000 people.
In his closing argument, Stephen Murray, representing the smokers said that the tobacco industry engaged in a conspiracy in 1953 to convince the public that smoking was safe. "The cigarette is the most hazardous product in the history of commerce," Murray said.
Phil Wittmann, an attorney for R.J. Reynolds, argued that the plaintiffs tried their case around an "imaginary plaintiff" since they had not presented a class representative witness who had not quit.
Gary Long, an attorney for Lorillard, argued that medical monitoring tests are unreliable and often produce false results and can prompt unnecessary and life-threatening follow-up procedures.
A second phase of the trial will convene soon to determine how the smoking cessation programs will be designed and how much they will cost for the defendants to fully fund.
See Complaint (pdf) Edward Sweda, Senior Attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University noted: "This is an historic victory for Louisiana smokers. The jury essentially found that the tobacco companies addicted these smokers through their reprehensible conduct and now must pay to un-addict them." Mark Gottlieb, also an attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project observed that, "around seven in ten smokers want to quit according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This verdict will help Louisiana smokers to live a healthier smoke-free life on the dime of the companies that addicted them, usually as kids, in the first place. The jury's verdict today will really save lives in a state with alarmingly high smoking rates."
-- ## -- |