(July 17, 2020, 9:23 AM EDT) -- MIAMI — A Florida appellate panel on July 15 affirmed the denial of a tobacco company’s motion for a directed verdict on fraud claims of a smoker who was awarded $7.25 million in compensatory and punitive damages by a jury because the panel found evidence of the smoker’s lifelong exposure to the tobacco companies’ “disinformation campaign” was sufficient to establish his reliance on misrepresentations of material facts by the tobacco industry (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. Paul E. Rouse, No. 3D19-0629, Fla. App., 3rd Dist., 2020 Fla. App. LEXIS 10087)....