Ex-smoker sues cigarette firm, awarded $300 million in damages

A Florida jury has awarded $300 million in damages to Cindy Naugle, a 61-year-old former smoker. The wheelchair-bound Naugle was suing cigarette firm Phillip Morris USA.

Phillip Morris USA has been ordered to pay ex-smoker Cindy Naugle $300 million in damages, comprised of $56.6 million past and future health expenses and $244 million in punitive damages. Reuters reports the payment, awarded by the Broward Circuit Court Jury, is the "largest of the so-called Engle progeny cases that have been tried so far." A class action, Engle v RJ Reynolds, resulted in an award of $145 billion against tobacco companies, but it was dismissed by the Florida Supreme Court in 2006. Following the decertification of the class action, some individual suits were allowable. Although plaintiffs could not be viewed as a class, due to the large differences in individual claims. The Florida High Court accepted the decision of negligence on the part of tobacco companies, which lessened the burden of proof for individual claimants. Nearly 8,000 lawsuits were filed as a result of the Engle decertification. In the current case, Naugle commenced smoking as a 20-year-old in 1968, as she believed smoking made her look older. She was finally able to quit with the assistance of nicotine patches in 1993. Requiring 24-hour oxygen and confined to a wheelchair, Naugle was determined to be 10 percent responsible for her emphysema. In a statement, Ms Naugle's lawyer, Robert Kelley said "Cindy admitted her fault to the jury." Phillip Morris USA intends to challenge the decision. Company spokesman, Murray Garnick said:

From the beginning, this case was marked by a fundamentally unfair and unconstitutional trial plan that allowed the jury to rely on findings by a prior jury that have no connection to the plaintiff.

In his statement, Mr Garnick also said, "We believe that the punitive damages award is grossly excessive and a clear violation of constitutional and state law.