Smoker Awarded Additional $4M Punitive Damages in Tobacco Lawsuit

A Connecticut woman has been awarded about $12 million in damages through a tobacco lawsuit filed against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., including nearly $4 million in punitive damages that were awarded last week.  

The product liability lawsuit was filed by 49 year-old Barbara Izzarelli, who alleged that she developed larynx cancer after smoking for more than 25 years. Her larynx was removed 13 years ago due to the cancer.

In May, a jury awarded $13.9 million in compensatory damages, after determining that R.J. Reynolds created a defective and unreasonably dangerous product that was marketed with reckless disregard for public safety. However, that amount was reduced to about $8 million after the jury also determined that Izzarelli was 42 percent responsible for her own injuries.

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The decision about additional punitive damages, designed to punish the tobacco company, was left to Judge Stefan Underhill, who awarded an additional $3.97 million to the plaintiff last Thursday. According to a report by the Associated Press, if interest is added to compensate for a decade of alleged stall tactics by R.J. Reynolds, another $15.8 million may be awarded under state law.

Izzarelli’s lawsuit was the first jury verdict victory for a plaintiff against a tobacco company in New England. The lawsuit claimed that the marketing for Salem cigarettes, which Izzarelli smoked, targeted youths in the 1970s.

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2 Comments

  • rogerJuly 10, 2014 at 8:09 pm

    ever sence that i smoke i got total heart damages total i hade 14 heartattack total damage is 100%

  • AnnaJuly 24, 2011 at 12:32 am

    Can I hire these layers I have throat cancer from smoking.

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