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Mealey's Tobacco

October 10, 2018
Federal Judge Won’t Stop Widow From Seeking Punitive Damages From Cigarette Makers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on Oct. 3 ruled that the widow of a longtime smoker may continue to pursue punitive damages in her Engle progeny lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA Inc., ruling that a notice filed by the two cigarette makers seeking to invoke a Florida statute that limits a defendant’s exposure to punitive damages “is not ripe for decision” (Eddie O. Starbuck v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., No. 09-cv-13250, M.D. Fla., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171171).
October 8, 2018
$21.5 Million Award To Smoker’s Widow Affirmed By Florida Appellate Court

LAKELAND, Fla.— A Florida appellate court on Sept. 28 affirmed a $21.5 million jury award for damages to the widow of a man who died from cancer caused by smoking cigarettes made by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. Barbara Jean Johnston, No. 2D17-1702, Fla. App., 2nd Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 13840).
October 4, 2018
FedEx Wins Dismissal Of New York Federal Dispute Over Cigarette Shipments

NEW YORK — In a Sept. 26 decision, a New York federal judge rejected allegations by the city of New York and the New York attorney general that FedEx Freight Inc. and FedEx Ground Package System Inc. knowingly shipped unstamped cigarettes in violation of various federal and state laws (New York, et al. v. FedEx Ground Package System Inc., et al., No. 17-5183, S.D. N.Y., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165807).
October 4, 2018
Florida Appellate Court Upholds $18 Million Award To Former Smoker’s Widow

LAKELAND, Fla. — A Florida appellate court on Sept. 28 affirmed a jury’s $18 million award for compensatory and punitive damages to the widow of a smoker (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. Marlene Nally, No. 2D16-4024, Fla. App., 2nd Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 13846).
October 1, 2018
Florida Jury: Widow Entitled To $2.4 Million In Compensatory Damages

MIAMI — Although denying an award of punitive damages on Sept. 26, a Florida jury on Sept. 25 awarded the wife of a lung cancer victim $2.4 million in compensatory damages in connection with the loss of her husband (Brenda Chadwell v. Philip Morris USA Inc., No. 2010CA17931, Fla. Cir., 11th Jud. Cir., Dade Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
September 28, 2018
California Injunction Barring Indian Woman’s Cigarette Sales Stays In Place

SAN FRANCISCO — California cannot obtain injunctive relief under its unfair competition law (UCL) claim against a member of an Indian tribe for selling untaxed cigarettes from her reservation home, but the woman can be enjoined from selling cigarettes in violation of the state’s cigarette fire safety and Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) directory laws, a state appeals panel held Sept. 25 (The People ex rel. Xavier Becerra v. Ardith Huber, No. A144214, Calif. App., 1st Dist., 4th Div., 2018 Cal. App. LEXIS 855).
September 28, 2018
Ohio Top Court Says Defendant Initiates Asbestos Plaintiff Smoker Status Challenge

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A defendant may challenge whether an asbestos lung cancer plaintiff qualifies as a smoker, after which a judge must determine if the term applies, and if it does, whether the plaintiff met the increased burden for such plaintiffs, a majority of Ohio’s Supreme Court held Sept. 27 (Bobby Turner, et al. v. Union Carbide Corp., et al., No. 17-0004, Ohio Sup.).
September 27, 2018
Connecticut Federal Suit Over Irreconciled Tobacco Shipments, Threats Tossed

HARTFORD, Conn. — Allegations of unconstitutionality surrounding a Connecticut law that revokes a license to sell tobacco products when a tobacco manufacturer is unable to reconcile nationwide sales with federal interstate shipping reports were rejected Sept. 26 by a Connecticut federal judge (Grand River Enterprises Six Nations Ltd. v. Kevin B. Sullivan, Commissioner of Revenue Services, No. 16-1087, D. Conn., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165114).
September 24, 2018
Florida Supreme Court Reinstates $20 Million Award In Engle Progeny Case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida appeals court erred when it created a bright-line cap on the amount of noneconomic damages available to adult, financially independent children who prevail on wrongful death claims in Engle progeny cases, a divided Florida Supreme Court ruled Sept. 20 (Gwendolyn E. Odom v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. SC17-563, Fla. Sup., 2018 Fla. LEXIS 1703).
September 21, 2018
Punitives Denied, But Phase I Damages Awarded In Florida Tobacco Case

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA Inc. on Sept. 18 were ordered by a Florida jury to pay $1 million to a plaintiff for the loss of his mother’s companionship following her death from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (Marc Simon v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. et al., No. 2007-CV-027976, Fla. 17th. Jud. Cir., Broward Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
September 20, 2018
Daughter Of Smoker Wins $6.5 Million, But Father Largely Held Responsible

MIAMI — Jurors empaneled in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County on Sept. 18 awarded an Engle progeny plaintiff $6.5 million in connection with her claim that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. conspired to conceal the effects of smoking from her father (Hanifah Harewood v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, No. 07-46331-CA-02, Fla. Cir., 11th Jud. Cir., Miami-Dade Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
September 14, 2018
Florida Panel Defines Residency Requirement For Engle Progeny Cases

MIAMI — In what it deemed an issue of first impression, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal on Sept. 12 concluded that the phrase “[a]ll Florida citizens and residents” as it appears in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Engle, 672 So. 2d 39, 40 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996) (Engle I), requires a showing that at the time of manifestation or diagnosis of a smoking-related disease, a decedent must have resided in or been a citizen of Florida to qualify as an Engle class member (Elsa Chacon v. Philip Morris USA Inc., No. 3D16-2330, Fla. App. 3rd Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 12792).
September 13, 2018
New York’s Tribal Cigarette Tax Ruling Heads To High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court intervention is needed to correct a New York appeals court’s decision allowing the state to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on an Indian reservation to nontribal members because the ruling goes against state law and an 1842 treaty, a tribal member with a cigarette sales business tells the high court in a Sept. 4 petition for certiorari (Eric White, et al. v. Barbara D. Underwood, et al., No. 18-297, U.S. Sup., 2018 U.S. S. Ct. Briefs LEXIS 3252).
September 12, 2018
Rare Asbestos-Tobacco Trial Opens In Massachusetts

BOSTON — A Boston jury on Sept. 7 heard opening arguments in a rare lung cancer trial involving tobacco and asbestos defendants (Louis Summerlin, et al. v. Philip Morris, USA, et al., No. 1581CV05255, Mass. Super., Suffolk Co.). VIDEO OF THE TRIAL AVAILABLE
September 11, 2018
In Retrial, Tobacco Plaintiffs Awarded $250,000 In Noneconomic Damages

PENSACOLA, Fla. — In a verdict announced Sept. 7 a Florida jury ordered Philip Morris USA Inc. to pay the widow and children of a smoker $250,000 in noneconomic damages, just over one year after an appeals court found that an initial jury award rendered in the case was too low and the result of “adverse passion and prejudice” (Micah Danielson v. Philip Morris USA Inc., No. 2007-CA-002737, Fla. Cir., 1st Jud. Cir.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
September 10, 2018
Massachusetts Judge: FDA Withheld, Delayed Agency Action On Warning Labels

BOSTON — In a Sept. 5 grant of summary judgment in favor of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other health organizations, a Massachusetts federal judge compelled the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to promulgate a final rule implementing Section 201(a) of the Tobacco Control Act (TCA) (American Academy of Pediatrics, et al. v. United States Food and Drug Administration, No. 1:16-cv-11985, D. Mass., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150595).
September 7, 2018
11th Circuit Turns Away Constitutional Challenge To Preclusive Effect Of Engle

ATLANTA — Pursuant to its holding in Burkhart v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 5 rejected assertions by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris Inc. that their due process rights are violated when courts give preclusive effect to the concealment and conspiracy findings in Engle v. Liggett Grp., Inc. (Cheryl Searcy v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., No. 13-15258, 11th Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 25191).
September 7, 2018
Florida Panel Denies Certiorari, Won’t Review Disqualification Of Firm

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Efforts by a wrongful death plaintiff to overturn a Florida judge’s order disqualifying the Ferraro Firm from further representing her in litigation against Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. were unsuccessful on Sept. 5, when the First District Florida Court of Appeal denied her petition for certiorari (Lue Ethel Russ v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. et al., No. 1D17-1847, Fla. App., 1st Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 12540).
September 6, 2018
Plaintiffs To Maryland Federal Judge: Reject FDA Article III Challenge

BALTIMORE — In an Aug. 28 memorandum, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Heart Association and others urge a Maryland federal judge to reject claims by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the groups lack Article III standing to challenge the “Extension of Certain Tobacco Product Compliance Deadlines Related to the Final Deeming Rule” (American Academy of Pediatrics, et al. v. Food and Drug Administration, et al., No. 8:18-CV-883, D. Md.).
August 31, 2018
Pennsylvania Court Quashes Tobacco Company Appeal Of Asbestos Lawsuit Discovery

HARRISBURG, Pa. — An order requiring a tobacco company to produce a list of mesothelioma litigation it faced falls short of requiring an immediate review, a Pennsylvania court held Aug. 30 in quashing an appeal (Bernice M. Steiner, et al. v. Hollingsworth & Vose Co., et al., No. 563 EDA 2018, Pa. Super., 2018 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 3207).