Pensacola Woman Wins $30 Million Lawsuit Against Big Tobacco

Florida Pensacola A Florida jury awarded $30 million to a Pensacola widown who's husband died of lung cancer. Prosecutors say R.J. Reynolds conspired to make their products more addictive and withheld information about the dangers of smoking.

by The Associated Press

Published: Mon, June 01, 2009 - 5:41 pm CST

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A Florida jury has awarded $30 million to
a Pensacola widow in a ruling against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.
Lawyers for Benny Martin, who died of lung cancer in 1995, said
the tobacco company conspired to make their products more addictive
to customers and withheld information about the dangers of smoking.
They said Martin started smoking 20 years before cigarettes had
warning labels. The case is one of the first to be tried after the
2006 Florida Supreme Court ruling that threw out a massive class
action award to thousands of smokers and required the cases be
proven individually.
An e-mail sent to R.J. Reynolds was not immediately returned.
Attorney Matt Schultz said he hopes the judgment will "deter
these kinds of corporate activities in the future."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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BamaBob Says:

Tue, Jun 02, 2009 at 7:48 am

At one time cigarettes were advertised as being soothing to the throat and a sundry of other claims. Some brands even had doctors endorsing them as the brand to smoke.

Tobacco companies were no better than drug pushers. They would entice people to try their products and once they had them addicted, it was a sure sale until that customer croaked!

I’m glad this woman was able to endure the civil process and come out a winner, especially considering the number of very high priced lawyers she had to go up against.

I would also like to know if she needs a friend…..

Tank_Girl20 Says:

Tue, Jun 02, 2009 at 7:40 am

I don’t think smokers or their family should be allowed do stuff like this. Regardless of warnings, think about it. If you inhale smoke, what in the world do you think it’s doing to your lungs? If you smoke, you understand the toll it’s going to take on your body, mind and health. It’s not about warnings, it’s common sense: You purposely inhale smoke for years, it’s eventually gonna kill you.

cicicamy Says:

Mon, Jun 01, 2009 at 10:05 pm

If you read the post a lot more closely it tells you her husbands started smoking 20 years before any kind of warning labels was put on the packs. Things that we know now about cigarettes was not known back then. Now if someone starts smoking today and tries to file suite 30 years down the road. That would be rather stupid considering now people are a lot more informed about the damages of tobacco in this age than they was back then. Not sure why she would wait 14 years to file a law suite though.

anitadeluca Says:

Mon, Jun 01, 2009 at 9:26 pm

I Don’t Think She Should Have Got $30.00!!! Why Did She Wait 14 Years To Do Something About It Anyways? Everybody Knows There Addictive,It Tells You What It Can Do On The Pack.We Mite As Well Get A Law Suite On Tire Companies For Flat Tires.