Smoker’s Lawsuit Results in $300M Verdict Against Tobacco Company
Published: November 23rd, 2009
In what is believed to be the largest single plaintiff award to date against a tobacco company, a Florida jury awarded $300 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a former smoker who filed a lawsuit against Philip Morris USA over her emphysema.
Cindy Naugle, 61, was awarded $56.6 million for past and future medical expenses, as well as pain and suffering. The jury from Broward County Circuit Court also levied a $244 million punitive damage award against the tobacco company.
Naugle, who said that she began smoking in 1968 to make herself look older, alleged that she would have never started smoking if she had known of the potential health effects. The smoker’s lawsuit claimed that the tobacco companies knew smoking caused a variety of lung diseases, but kept those side effects hidden.
As a result of smoking for about 25 years, Naugle claimed that she suffers from emphysema, requires around-the-clock oxygen and is confined to a wheelchair due to how easily she is winded. The jury found her to be 10% responsible for her own condition, meaning that while Philip Morris is responsible for all of the punitive damages; it is only responsible for 90% of the compensatory damages.
Naugle’s case is one of about 8,000 smoker lawsuits filed against tobacco companies in Florida, known as Engle Progeny lawsuits. The cases stem from a 2006 decision by the Florida Supreme Court, in Engle v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., to vacate a 2000 verdict in a class action lawsuit. Although the appeals court overturned the $145 billion verdict awarded on behalf of an estimated 700,000 smokers, plaintiffs were allowed to file individual claims and use the liability findings from the class action trial.
Tobacco companies have called the ruling unfair and unconstitutional, because it allows juries to look at a previous jury’s findings. However, plaintiffs have pointed out that they must still prove that the addiction caused the damages, as opposed to the damage being caused by the choice of the smoker to start smoking.
Related Articles
- Secondhand Smoke Lawsuit Seeks Class Action Status (3/22/2011)
- Chewing Tobacco Wrongful Death Lawsuit Leads to $5M Settlement (12/13/2010)
- Florida Lawsuit Over Smoker’s Death Results in $80M Award (11/19/2010)
- Tobacco Lawsuit Results in $13.8M Punitive Damages Against Philip Morris (8/26/2009)
- Florida Tobacco Lawsuit Results in $8 Million Verdict for Family of Smoker (2/19/2009)
Comment by michael on 25 November 2009:
my father’s death was qualified to participate in the engle trust settlement, but because the trust failed to contact us, we were not included in any settlement payouts
i am interested in filing an individual suit and am seeking representation
Comment by Hughey on 27 November 2009:
How does one know if a case or claim has legal merit for pain and suffering damages?
Comment by Marcus on 2 December 2009:
This lawsuit is stupid Did the Company force her to start smoking? did thay force her to continue? this is just another example of people not wanting to take responsibility for there own actions millions of people stop smoking daily you would think that when she noticed the negative affects of smoking in her 25 years of smoking she would have stopped. this is the same as if i load a gun and shoot my foot off then sue the gun maker for pain and suffering.
Comment by kelly on 2 December 2009:
This is PATHETIC. People need to take personal responsibility for the decisions they make. So, do I sue Nestle’s for the fact that I never knew that chocolate would make me fat????
Comment by Dan on 20 December 2009:
This is to “Marcus’ and ” Kelly . Look at the evidence. Yes they did smoke but they we lied to. The cigs co put things in there product from what i read. Look at the evindence not the $$$$$ that is in the claims. Money will never replace the lost love ones. I know i am there and been there for many a year.
Comment by jim on 31 December 2009:
i had surgery for pvd this spring. this is a diease so painful i wouldn!t wish it on my worst enemy. caused by smoking for over 50 yrs, but cig companies dont tell you this. next step i am told is amputation of both legs. cig companies told us how good they were when i started smoking. have tried chantix and every other stop smoking device to no avail. anyone who has had pvd, can tell you about the pain getting to the point where you can only sleep about 30 min before waking up screaming with pain.
Comment by Frank on 8 January 2010:
What a joke, it is amazing how people look for easy money.. This has to be rank and the most ridiculous lawsuit ever. People know that cigarretes are dangerous and yet they continue to smoke.. We are smart enough that any chemicals we inhale or consume are toxic to our health..I drink and I know that alcohol is poison to my liver, but I am not going to turn tomorrow and file a lawsuit against the alcohol companies..
Comment by wisewon on 19 June 2010:
Cigarette companies not only knew of the dangers smoking would cause but they had their doctors and scentist hide these facts while they put slow killing poison with every intent to commit slow genocide to prevent people from collecting Social Security and other retirement benefits or at least reduce thos benefits. The used sublime messaging targeted teens with TV ads targets GI’s in combat even supplied the free in K rations while putting chemical to make them addicted and to work on the nevere systems making smokes get relief from stress while in fact creating more stress causing the smokers to smoke more boosting sales. The used hollywod stars, singers to glamorize smoking even got to where their TV ads targets certain classes of people from rich to poor and even targeted the sexes making cigarettes just for women and just for men and even teens with cool colorful billboards like booze the put these ads for the strogest brands in the poorest areas. This is a product that furthermmore was never a needed product like lead poison in house paints another product designed to commit slow murder genocide and create a slew of health issues and slowly murder then once they had millions addicted or exposed to the chemical compounds and addicted then the Gov made them put warnings about the bad products after the gov took lobby money for years from these companies and who both gov and state share profits in these products so the lawsuits should not just be against these companies but gov and state to who use the ruse they are trying to get people to stop as to why they raise the tax when in fact they only raise the tax during the best of economy and worst of economy to line their own pockets with more money from the victims instead of holding accountable the companies who produce products of poisons and dump them on the streets targeting as much of the general public as they can. Wake up America your being targeted of slow Genocide Medical Experiments foloow the money and who all had made profits from these products.
Comment by larry on 18 August 2010:
my dad died this year from smoking as it states in his medical papers i have from the hospital after 53 yrs of smoking..He had empahsema lung cancer suffered a heart attack and a sever stroke from smoking.He started just before entering the air force which he got cigarettes cheaper on base,,He started with camel then switched to marlboro cause of the cowboy smoking…My dad was considered a cowboy cause he roped..He had a horrible death and i have over 90 pages that all state it was from smoking..He started before the surgeon general labels were on the packs and was totally addicted.
Comment by mary on 10 February 2011:
My husband has emphysema or copd, he has to have breathing treatments, and inhalers 4 times a day, he is 85 years old, diagnosed
about 8 or more years ago and still was unable to stop smoking until
he could hardly breathe, he started smoking when he was a child and
got more addicted each year. medication is expensive but can’t breathe without it. He rarely go out of the house, because he gets exausted
quickly. I have 2 sons who still smoke even watching their father struggle to breathe. They try to stop, then start again. I blame cigarette companies for additives causing addiction. They send coupons for free cigarettes to entice people .
I also have 2 sisters who died from smoking and one who is very ill with emphysema and still can’t stop.
Comment by Brian on 6 May 2011:
I was diagnosed with non small cell squamus cell lung cancer at the age of 24 I now am 32. I smoked for several years it is very addicting. I now am left with two fifths of my lungs. Along with years of doctor bills. Why did the states get all the money from the tabacoo settlements to balance the budgets and the people who suffered with the disease have to pay?
Comment by chris on 11 June 2011:
i started smoking when i was 15 not knowing any better . and it was cool at the time iam 39 now and struggle with this addiction . and even thou i know the ill effects now from smoking , and countless attempts at quiting . i have yet to over come .and i know sooner then later something its gonna catch upto me in the worst way .and even knowing that i still struggle with quiting . i have severe dental problems from smoking . so on that note i strongly think cigarrette companys and the goverment responible for allowing the sales of these products just because they tax it to no end its ok would they allow heroin be sold legaly if they could tax it oh yeah they did . so if theres a lawyer out there willing to repersent me to help get the funds to help with my dental problem and my future alements from this drug . and helpwith the quiting of smoking . i tried the free patches from the smoking hot line doesnt work . in fact everytime i try them i smoke more after wards . why are they being allowed to sell cigarrets thats what pisses me off
Comment by Patrick R on 27 June 2011:
I have lost almost all of my teeth so I went to smoking. then i had to quit because of back issues than i went back to using skoal. Who do I call to see if I have a case. I may end up getting mouth cancer. would someone please help me
Comment by Jennifer on 21 December 2011:
I have smoked since i was 12 yrs. old. I have suffered from the added chemicals to tobacco that push you to smoke more and more. I have suffered dental problems. I feel that they also lowered the thoughts of the dangers by placing “lights” and ultra lights on the packs. Marlboro is who i blame. As well i never knew menthol was worse and i am hooked. I feel i should be compensated for the hidden things never shown in cigarettes.
Comment by awisewon on 3 January 2012:
These products have long been known to cause cancer and other serous illness and Death Gen R>E> Lee died of throat cancer. These are some of the most useless products on the plant that where handed out like candy to our armed forces in the 2nd WW Glamorized by Hollywood and the Music Industry just as drugs where, Lead Paints, Asbestos Agent Orange, Mustard Gas where all well know by their makers and seller to kill and cripple These People all belong in Prison for murdering and crippling of hundreds of thousands of innocent people workers have no choices where they work, Armed Forces have no choice what weapons are used in wars. Smokers where lied to for years most where made targets in their youth using sublime messaging an glamor to prompt the use of a highly addictive product know today as the most addictive product on the plant states and the government have aided and abetted not only in their use and abuse but in the billions in profits. Putting a warning label is no defense companies lie, states lie, doctors lie, lawyers lie, governments lie.Studies say one thing then a yr or so later claim the have new evidence now the product is bad or good coffee is one that comes to mind. Then with smoking the countless number of toxic chemicals they add into the product some we know designed solely to keep the smokers addicted. Lawsuits are not enough not by far these companies committed GENOCIDE in mass numbers and deserve to not only be sued and their Estates Sued but to be bankrupted out of business and sent to prison for life and every public leader that voted to earn money from these products sued and sent to prison right along with all of them and these families paid for their damages and losses and pain and suffering and triple damages to our entire military families those who laid their lives on the line for freedom and justice and to protect our rights and nation as Americans and this is how you repay them by poisoning our people that gave their lives for our freedom DISGUSTING COWARD DEMONIC DEMONS THE LOT OF YA THAT SUPPORT These Chemical Murdering Scumbags.
Comment by awisewon on 3 January 2012:
This is a nation founded for and by the people the framers well intended that every aspect of law benefit the side of the people above all else we have long forgotten that as a nation in though an practice. when ever a company for any product causes damages to the health and well being of its product users there should be no need for lawyers that company should man up pay for the damages it caused and correct the problem so not to cause further damages to others and write it off as lesson learned and cost of doing business they are not going to loose any money all the Tobacco companies and government did in these lawsuits was pass their losses to the new wave and current users of their products and make more money after they where sued than before the fact.. Every company that gets sued evades its punishment by passing its losses off on its consumers in the case of tobacco it makes the victims twice victims by making them pay the cost of damages in these lawsuits wake up people. Laws need to be made that freeze their ability to pass on their losses in lawsuits to their victims and consumers. The losses need to be put wherein they justly belong Stock Holders and Company Leadership those who rule and run these companies and profit the most. The states and government has been lying its tails off its taken billions and billions in profits from taxes on these products over the years and has had the ability to raise that tax all along if they felt it was not covering the medical damages they where paying due to low income smokers and no health care. They have long had laws in place for states and government to sue for damages any 3rd party that caused damages enough to people that they had to pay for their care and have chosen not to or when and if they do they use the victims to recover for themselves and screw the victims who often get less than standard medical care. What you should be asking is Where is all that Tax money Collected for Booze and Tobacco and other Harmful to health and environment type products and these companies made to pay all the damages their products cause with no excuses no defenses! Lawyers should come out from the wood work and from under every rock when citizens are harmed and judges and juries alike should always side with the citizens and those harmed by these products and no caps should ever be placed on lawsuits and repeat offenders need to be sued to the point they are bankrupted to send a clear message to companies put out safe products or you will all be held strictly accountable and maybe the next person who starts selling products that are useless or pose dangers will correct themselves or be put out of business. Paint companies would have sold far more paint had they never put toxic lead in it to make the paint last longer in the weather instead they willfully chose to put well know toxins in their product to a unsuspecting and uneducated public They all deserve life in Prison at the top levels and anyone who aided and abetted them in not holding them accountable who gives a crap what it cost them they should have thought about that before they pumped their poisons out to the public and that means the law makers and judges who still are protecting these companies and not holding them fully accountable, You buy a old company and its products you bought its good, its bad or its in different unless you got it in writing they will be responsible for its past damages caused to consumers before you buy such a company if you didn’t and honestly didn’t realize they should share in those damages. Every Person we hold in poverty and oppression in America is the longer we hold our nation in Poverty and Oppression would you rather have a nation of 50% poor or 50% middle class Think about it you do the math the stronger our people are economically the more we can with ease help out those with lessor means in America and throughout the world.
Comment by derek on 3 May 2012:
its obvious these idiots had no loved ones who suffered with these symptoms and they are probably smokers as well..i had my mom and dad die horribly over smoking and why dont these idiots look at whats inside the cancer sticks that make it adictive?and the lawsuits are for when the tobacco companies didnt put all that on the warning labels..did they continue to smoke? yes they did..some peeps can strong will theirselves to stop and most others cant beat the adiction as like crack users cant stop..but the only difference between the 2 is that cigarettes are legal and crack isnt so when you idiots state that someone is looking for easy money..i sure hope you dont have to watch your loved ones suffer in that manner.