Jump to full article: AP, 2005-02-03
Author: Associated Press
Intro: A jury has awarded the family of a woman who smoked for nearly 50 years more than $20 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against the maker of Kool cigarettes, the largest total judgment against a tobacco company in Missouri.
The Jackson County jury awarded the family of Barbara Smith, of Lee's Summit, $20 million in punitive damages on Wednesday, a day after ordering $2 million in actual damages.
The family will get only $500,000 of the $2 million in actual damages because the jury found Smith to be 75 percent at fault and Brown & Williamson to be 25 percent at fault. . . .
Edward L. Sweda Jr., an attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project, said the award was the fifth largest of 14 judgments nationwide against tobacco companies.
"The problem for Brown & Williamson is that there are potentially millions of plaintiffs down the road," Sweda said.
. . .
The plaintiffs' star witness was Jeffrey Wigand, a former vice president of research and development for Brown & Williamson. His complaints against tobacco companies eventually led to huge settlements with all states to recoup health costs.
Wigand, who has a doctorate in biochemistry, testified that he was sent to a law firm when he was hired by Brown & Williamson.
"We were not to admit nicotine was addictive," Wigand said. "It was contradictory to what I knew. I didn't think lawyers would ever teach me science."
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