Tobacco.org

Fla. appeals court affirms decision in smoker case 

Philip Morris USA on Monday said a Florida appellate court affirmed a jury's 2003 decision that ordered it and Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp. to pay damages to a former smoker with lung disease.

Last year a jury awarded about $6.54 million to John Eastman but found Eastman, a former smoker with a respiratory illness, to be 50 percent at fault. It found Philip Morris USA, the largest U.S. cigarette maker, liable for 40 percent of total damages, or about $2.6 million, and found Brown & Williamson liable for 10 percent of the damages, or close to $654,000. The jury did not award punitive damages.

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