Tobacco Documents Online

THE BUFFALO NEWS AUG 2 4 1996 Jury finds tobacco companies not responsible for man's death i Acrorfated Ihrsr f 1~ INDfANAPOLIS - A jury Fri- da.y found cigarette companies not responsible for a steoker's cancer death, a break for the tobacco in- dustry which last a similar lawsuit this tmonth and faces new federal regrdations. After 16 hours of deliberations, ttie state court jury rejected claims from the widow of Richard Rogers that the companies were to blame for his lifetime of smoking that bcgan at age 5 and ended with his de ath in 1997 at 52. lung cancer. Tobaceo lawyers said industry. The first verdict was Rogers chose to smoke, despite overturned on appeal. warnings of the potential risks. The Rogers verdicl. coming on a day when President Clinton im- posed historic limits on the mar- keting of cigarettes to children, took on estreme importance as the industry wondered whether thc tide of opinion in America's court- rooms has turned against it. Ciga- retre makers had long boasted they had never paid a cent in health-related suits brought by smokers. In closing arguments in the In- dianapolis counroom, plaintiffs at- tomev C. Warren Holland told ju- rors Rogers was addicted to ciga- rettes even before the 1964 Surgeon General's warning, and that tobacco companies were aware al) along that their product was "unreasonably dartgerous." Holland also said the compa- nics should be held responsible for making cigarettes addictive. "This is not just a hatM." A Florida jury earlier this But the tobacco companies said '11te lawsuit which had sought month awarded $750,000 to a man Rogers had continued to smoke at least $424,000 claimed Rogers, who got lung cancer after 44 years willingly, and was up to three, an attorney, was addicted to c_iga- of smoking. It was only the second packs a day, despite a public per-' rettes and that smakin caused his time a jtuy has ruled against the ception of dangers heightened by the Surgeon General's report and' then by cigarette warning Iahels. When asked shortly before his death by a tobacco executive why he hadn't stopped smoking earlier, Rogers had responded, "1 really didn't want to quit," Philip Morris C, os. lawyer David Hardy told ju- mrs. The other companies involved' in the lawsuit were R:1. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a unit of R]R Nabis- co o m+~ Co_:, Amertcan o tac- co Co., owned by B.A.T. Indus-, tries PLC; and Liggett Group Ino., of Brooke (irqyp.PLC i ~ ~~ L ~ `~`'`~ 8b960tiLLOZ f