Products Liability Law Reporter

Rita Jones began smoking at age 16 after being handed a sample pack of Newport cigarettes in her Boston neighborhood during the mid-1960s. She became addicted to nicotine and continued to smoke one to two packs of cigarettes per day for more than 51 years. She finally was able to quit; however, she was diagnosed as having Stage IV lung cancer approximately five months later. This necessitated three years of chemotherapy and hospitalizations, as well as supplemental oxygen.

Jones died of her disease at age 70. She is survived by her five adult children.

Jones’s estate sued R.J. Reynolds, individually and as successor by merger to Lorillard Tobacco Co., alleging design defect, negligent distribution, breach of warranty, negligence, and civil conspiracy. The conspiracy to deceive the public about the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes led Jones to smoke, become addicted, and develop lung cancer, the plaintiff argued. The parties stipulated to $675,000 in medical expenses.

The jury awarded $200 million, including $150 million in punitive damages. Each of Jones’s children was awarded $5 million. The jury found Jones 3% responsible.

Citation: Jones v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 1684CV03277-G (Mass. Super. Ct. Suffolk Cnty. Oct. 3, 2023).

Plaintiff counsel: Walter Kelley, Plymouth, Mass.; and Randy Rosenblum, Miami.

Plaintiff experts: Robert Proctor, tobacco history, Palo Alto, Calif.; and Michael Cummings, cigarette history and design, Charleston, S.C.

Comment: In Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Garcia, 2023 WL 7559459 (Fla. App. Ct. Nov. 15, 2023), Juan Rodriguez began smoking when he moved to the United States from Cuba in 1967. Before quitting, he smoked Marlboro cigarettes exclusively. He was later diagnosed as having COPD, lung cancer, and brain cancer. Rodriguez sued Philip Morris USA Inc., in 2007, alleging that he was a member of the Engle class and asserting claims for negligence, strict liability, conspiracy, fraud, and punitive damages. After his death, his daughter, Odaima Garcia, was substituted as the plaintiff and the complaint was amended to include state wrongful death and survival claims for Rodriguez’s wife. The case went to trial twice, in 2019 and 2021. Both times, Philip Morris moved for summary judgment on the plaintiff’s claims for Rodriguez’s COPD based on the class limitation period set forth in Engle. The defendant argued that the COPD claims were time-barred because Rodriguez allegedly developed smoking-related COPD as early as the 1980s, before the Engle class period, which covers people who manifested smoking-related disease between 1990 and 1996. The trial court denied the motions, and a jury later returned a verdict for the plaintiff. The trial court issued an omnibus order following posttrial motions. An appellate court affirmed, and the trial court entered final judgment. Affirming once more, the appellate court found that at trial, there was conflicting evidence regarding the date of manifestation for Rodriguez’s COPD, and different inferences could be drawn from the evidence, which was presented to the jury. Thus, the court concluded that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Philip Morris’s posttrial motions, including the Engle limitations issue. AAJ members Bard Rockenbach and Jeffrey Mansell, both of West Palm Beach, Fla.; AAJ member Justin Parafinczuk, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Jose Menendez, Coral Gables, Fla., represented the plaintiff.