Tobacco Documents Online

! 0 . A1SG-25-96 SUN 12 i49 MIySAS C'n siA BEST COPY AVAI LABLE Aw 2 4 1996 f Jur.y decides tobacco firms : riot responsible for death TN.s.xwad on.n i' / t 1 3month awarded $750 OOO to a man INDIA NAPOLIS - A j ury Fri- day found n• com nies not reaponsible nr a smo ~'s ~'ncer d~ t~b , `The verdict is a break for the to- batco iodustry which lost a similar lawsuit this month and faces new federal regulations Tbe estate and widow of Richani Rogers had sought at least 5424,000 Prcjm four tobacco companies for lofi eurnings and medical expenses RoBers, who began aneakiig smokes at 9gc > and later developed a tluee- pxk-a-dav habit, died of lung can- aam 198`atage52. Thc lawsutt filed shortly before his death claimed that Rogers& a lawver. was addicted to ctgarettes aod thrt smoking caused his cancer. The tobaom companies -,Zhili Morris s; R.J ` co ., a unTo o~ldff ~s Co.; Aaierican Tobacco CO., owned bV $.A.T inrlttctri- PLC and Li¢eeti Grouti-Inc. of rook said Rogers' ess was his tesponsibil3ty. A Florida jury earlier this . who got lung cancer after 44 years of smokigg. It was only the second time a jury has ntled against the industry. The first verdict was ovenurned on appeal. Tbe verdict came after 16 hours of deliberations from the Marion CountY jury. In closing arguments, attorney C. Watren Holland told jurors that Rogers was addicted to cigarettes even before the 1964 surgeon gen- eral's warning and that tobacco companies were aware all along that their product was "unreason- ably danptous" The tobacco companies said Rogers had continued to smoke willingly, dwpite a pubticpe rcep- tion of danpeca heightened by the surgeon general's report and then by cigarette warning labela P, 11 As I f APPEARS IN PRINT ID9~Z11